Resident Rights Deficiencies
F559
Honor the resident's right to share a room with spouse or roommate of choice and receive written notice before a change is made.
In the Health Deficiencies file dated with this release, surveyors recorded 393 citations under F559 at 381 certified nursing homes. Each row is one citation on one survey, so a home can contribute more than one row. The sentence above is the description CMS attached to this code most often in the file.
The tag identifies the requirement. It does not, by itself, say whether one resident or many were affected, or whether anyone was harmed. That information is the scope and severity letter printed beside the tag on the facility page. A citation is the survey finding for the survey date in the file. Correction status, when CMS publishes it, is a separate field.
How to read a citation under this tag
- The survey date is when the finding was made, not necessarily when it began.
- Standard means the finding came from a standard health survey. Complaint means it came from a complaint or facility-reported incident investigation. A row can be marked as an infection-control inspection deficiency.
- The letter A through L is scope and severity. J, K, and L are immediate jeopardy. G, H, and I are actual harm that is not immediate jeopardy.
- Informal dispute resolution and independent informal dispute resolution flags mean the home has disputed the citation. CMS posts those rows and leaves them out of the star calculation until the dispute is finished.
Open a state list and then a facility to see the citations CMS attached to that home, including any under F559. The star-rating guide explains how citation points become a health inspection rating.
| Letter | Scope | Harm |
|---|---|---|
| A | Isolated | No actual harm, with potential for minimal harm |
| B | Pattern | No actual harm, with potential for minimal harm |
| C | Widespread | No actual harm, with potential for minimal harm |
| D | Isolated | No actual harm, with potential for more than minimal harm |
| E | Pattern | No actual harm, with potential for more than minimal harm |
| F | Widespread | No actual harm, with potential for more than minimal harm |
| G | Isolated | Actual harm that is not immediate jeopardy |
| H | Pattern | Actual harm that is not immediate jeopardy |
| I | Widespread | Actual harm that is not immediate jeopardy |
| J | Isolated | Immediate jeopardy to resident health or safety |
| K | Pattern | Immediate jeopardy to resident health or safety |
| L | Widespread | Immediate jeopardy to resident health or safety |
Questions
What does F559 mean?
Honor the resident's right to share a room with spouse or roommate of choice and receive written notice before a change is made.
How often was F559 cited in this file?
F559 appears on 393 citation rows, across 381 nursing homes, in the Health Deficiencies file for this release.
Is a citation the same thing as a fine?
No. A citation is a survey finding. A fine or a denial of payment is a penalty CMS may impose afterward. Penalty rows are in the Penalties file and are listed separately on each facility page.