Nursing Homes

Feds Paid Billions to Nursing Homes Deemed Grossly Deficient
   The Deaprtment of Health & Human Services' inspector general says Medicare paid more than $5 billion for patients to remain in skilled nursing facilities which were in serious violation of federal quality of care rules in 2009, in some instances resulting in extreme danger to patients.
2/28/13 1:37 PM  read complete story

Golden Living Nursing Homes Settle Substandard Wound Care Charges
   The operator is accused of submitteing false claims to Medicare, Medicaid, and the Veterans Administration because it provided residents at Golden LivingCenter–Glenwood (GLCG) and Golden LivingCenter–Dunwoody (GLCD) with inadequate and worthless monitoring, documentation, and prevention and treatment of wounds.
1/5/13 12:06 AM  read complete story

Trying to Track Abuses in the Long-Term Care Industry? Here's Help
   Called "Nursing Home Inspect," this new online tool was developed by ProPublica's Lena Groeger with Charles Ornstein, and allows users to easily search through thousands of recent government inspection reports from around the country, most since the beginning of 2011.
8/21/12 10:12 AM  read complete story

(ANALYSIS) Congressional Cuts Could Push Nursing Homes into the Red
   Additional cuts to the sector, which are plausible through end-of-the-year budget bills now being debated by federal lawmakers, would result in a negative margin for facilities, threatening America's seniors and individuals' with disabilities access to skilled nursing care.
12/7/11 3:33 PM  read complete story

(CASE MANAGEMENT) Program Helps Keep Nursing Home Residents Out of Hospital
   A program designed to help nursing homes identify and manage acute conditions and status changes among residents achieved a 17% reduction in hospital admissions when tested among 25 facilities over a recent six-month period, find the authors of a new study.
4/27/11 4:05 PM  read complete story

(MEDICARE) Groups Blast MedPAC Findings, Note Critical Role of Stable Medicare Funding
   The American Health Care Association (AHCA) and the Alliance for Quality Nursing Home Care say MedPAC's recommendation that Congress provide no FY 2012 cost-of-living adjustment for skilled nursing care will jeopardize caregivers' ongoing ability to sustain progress when it comes to improving patient care quality.
3/15/11 3:38 PM  read complete story

(SKILLED NURSING CENTERS) Maryland's Skilled Nursing Facility Sector Axe Avoidance
   Even as state legislatures across the nation are eyeing cuts in Medicaid as a way to reduce massive deficits, the skilled nursing facility sector in Maryland is wasting no time in getting its message before the state's lawmakers. It's a tactic not without some risk, but it's one that may be worth replicating by stakeholders in other states similarly affected by deficit issues.
2/2/11 3:46 PM  read complete story

(NCAL) Organization Profiles National Assisted Living Performance
   The National Center for Assisted Living (NCAL) is making public the results of its Performance Measurement Initiative, the first annual collection of data, illustrating that many assisted living providers are using numerous methods to record the quality of care and services being delivered to residents.
11/9/10 3:23 PM  read complete story

(IMPROVING QUALITY) CMS Officials Honored for Key Role in Culture Change Movement
   Karen Schoeneman, deputy director of the Division of Nursing Homes at the Center for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) and nationally respected leader of the nursing home culture change movement has been awarded the 2010 Picker Institute Award for Excellence. The award recognizes lifetime achievements for individuals who have taken action to improve the lives of persons living in long term care settings "by giving consideration to the care of patients through the patient's eyes."
5/11/10 11:53 AM  read complete story

(PREVENTIVE HEALTHCARE) Emergency Room Visits for Nursing Home Residents Seen Preventable
   A national survey on emergency department visits among residents of nursing facilities finds that 40% of visits were potentially preventable. The five-year, national report from the National Center for Health Statistics is the largest of its kind, revealing 2004 statistics that identify preventable dangers lurking in facilities, as well as some numbers that may have more damaging implications.
4/15/10 11:30 AM  read complete story