Personal Injury Law

81% of Georgia Nursing Homes are Deficient in Quality of Care and Other Services

You don?t have to be an Atlanta injury attorney to know that nursing home abuse and negligence is alive and well in Georgia and across the country. For most elder people, their greatest fear is being put in the dreaded nursing home and for good reason. In our practice, we have noted that more often than not these homes are understaffed by unqualified employees.

The Office of the Inspector General of the Department of Health and Human Services recently completed a study and issued a report that has found that over 91% of nursing homes were deficient in quality of care and other services in each of the past 3 years. The report also found that a higher percentage of for-profit nursing homes were deficient than non-profit nursing homes. With the aging baby-boomer population leading to increased demand for the services of nursing homes, nursing home litigation has been growing in recent years. According to U.S. Census Bureau statistics, 38.7 million Americans are 65 or older. By 2030 that age group will represent 20% of the population. Typical allegations against nursing homes have been abuse and neglect, inadequate staffing and medical errors.

The study found that the most common categories where nursing homes fell short were quality of care, resident assessment and quality of life. almost 74% of nursing homes in the survey were cited for quality of care deficiencies in 2007. Accident hazards were one of the most common issues. About 58% of nursing homes were cited for resident assessment problems involving professional standards and the qualifications of service personnel. Over 43% of facilities were cited for quality-of-life deficiencies, such as loss of dignity. In addition, almost 43% of homes were cited for dietary service violations. The report found that 17% of nursing homes in 2007 were cited for causing actual harm or immediate jeopardy, and that there is a trend toward violations that are more severe and broader in scope than in the previous 2 years. In Georgia, the average number of deficiencies per nursing home for the year 2007 was 6.5. Also, in Georgia, the percentage of nursing homes surveyed with deficiencies in the year 2007 was 88.1%.

Full post as published by Georgia Injury Lawyer Blog on November 06, 2008 (boomark / email).