Personal Injury Law

Georgia Nursing Home Abuse and Negligent Care

Georgia nursing homes have been the subject of many investigations finding negligence and abuse in the care of the elderly and infirm. A new report has disclosed troubling information. A government program that brings extra scrutiny to poorly performing nursing homes leaves out hundreds of troubled facilities.

The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services identifies up to 136 nursing homes as "special focus facilities" subject to more frequent inspections because of their living conditions. In every state except Alaska, there are between one and six such facilities. But investigators have found that four times as many homes, or 580, could be considered among the nation's worst.

The report from the Government Accountability Office does not identify the homes.
The GAO recommended that the program be expanded two years ago. But, federal officials while agreeing with the concept, said they didn't have the resources to do so.

The GAO report which is being released Monday, also recommends adjusting the methods used to identify the worst performing nursing homes. The homes now under special attention are the worst performing in their state. But not all states are equal when it comes to nursing home quality. Comparing the homes nationally, as recommended, would ensure that scarce resources go to inspecting the nursing homes that truly need the most attention, according to the report.

The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services told the GAO they disagreed with relying solely on a national comparison. The agency said it would consider an approach that allows for a national comparison to have more weight.

Some states have far more poorly performing nursing homes than are designated as special focus facilities. For example, Indiana had 52 nursing homes listed as among the worst performing, but only four are on the special list; California has 40 considered among the worst performing, but only four are on the list.

Ohio has five nursing homes on the special focus list but only three that investigators considered among the nation's worst.

Investigators also found that the worst-performing ones tend to be for-profit facilities affiliated with a chain of nursing homes. They are more likely to be a larger facility, averaging 102 residents, while other nursing homes not identified as among the worst had 89 residents on average

Full post as published by Georgia Injury Lawyer Blog on September 28, 2009 (boomark / email).