LEWES, DE - Federal health inspectors cited Excelcare at Lewes LLC for three deficiencies during a complaint investigation completed on November 14, 2025, including a failure to safeguard resident-identifiable information and maintain medical records in accordance with accepted professional standards. The facility has not submitted a plan of correction.
Medical Records and Data Protection Failures
The federal complaint investigation found that Excelcare at Lewes failed to meet requirements under regulatory tag F0842, which governs how nursing homes handle resident medical records and protect identifiable personal health information. The regulation requires facilities to maintain complete, accurate medical records for every resident and to store them in a manner that prevents unauthorized access.
Inspectors classified the deficiency at Scope/Severity Level D, indicating an isolated incident where no actual harm occurred but the potential existed for more than minimal harm to residents. While this classification reflects a lower severity on the federal scale, medical records violations carry significant implications for resident safety and privacy.
Proper medical record-keeping is not simply an administrative function — it is a foundational element of safe clinical care. When records are incomplete, inaccurate, or improperly secured, the consequences can cascade through every aspect of a resident's treatment.
Why Medical Records Compliance Matters
Medical records serve as the primary communication tool among nurses, physicians, pharmacists, and other care providers in a nursing home setting. Every medication order, assessment finding, care plan update, and change in condition is documented in the resident's chart. When these records are not maintained according to professional standards, critical information can be lost, duplicated, or misinterpreted.
Inaccurate or poorly maintained records can lead to medication errors, missed diagnoses, and failure to detect changes in a resident's condition. For example, if a nurse's assessment notes are incomplete, the next shift may not recognize early signs of infection, dehydration, or a developing pressure injury. In a population where residents often have multiple chronic conditions and take numerous medications, even small documentation gaps can result in serious clinical consequences.
The safeguarding requirement addresses a separate but equally important concern: protecting residents' personal health information. Nursing home residents have a legal right to privacy regarding their medical conditions, treatment history, and personal identifiers. Failures in this area can expose vulnerable individuals to identity theft, unauthorized disclosure of sensitive diagnoses, and violations of their dignity.
Federal Standards for Record-Keeping
Under federal regulations, nursing facilities must maintain clinical records that contain sufficient information to identify the resident, a record of all assessments, the comprehensive care plan, services provided, and all orders from physicians or other practitioners. These records must be kept in a secure manner and retained for the period required by state law.
The accepted professional standards referenced in the citation generally require that entries be timely, legible, authenticated, and complete. Records should reflect the resident's current status and any changes in condition, and they must be accessible to authorized personnel while remaining protected from unauthorized access.
No Correction Plan on File
Perhaps the most concerning aspect of the inspection findings is that Excelcare at Lewes has not submitted a plan of correction. When a facility is cited for deficiencies, federal regulations require the provider to develop and submit a detailed plan outlining how it will correct each identified problem and prevent recurrence. The absence of a correction plan means there is no documented commitment to addressing the issues inspectors identified.
The F0842 citation was one of three total deficiencies found during the November 2025 complaint investigation. The investigation was initiated in response to a complaint rather than a routine survey, which indicates that concerns about the facility's practices were raised before inspectors arrived.
What Residents and Families Should Know
Families with loved ones at Excelcare at Lewes should consider requesting a copy of their relative's medical record to verify its accuracy and completeness. Under federal law, residents and their legal representatives have the right to access medical records within 24 hours of a request during business days.
The full inspection report, including all three deficiencies cited during this investigation, is available through the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services and on NursingHomeNews.org. Readers are encouraged to review the complete findings for additional details about the facility's compliance history.
Full Inspection Report
The details above represent a summary of key findings. View the complete inspection report for Excelcare At Lewes LLC from 2025-11-14 including all violations, facility responses, and corrective action plans.
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