Personal Injury Law

Indiana AG Appoints Watchdog Panel to Monitor Nursing Homes

By Jamie G. Goldstein

After being ranked as one of the worst states for nursing homes in the country for neglect, elder abuse, and other regulatory violations, Indiana Attorney General Greg Zoeller has ramped up the state's efforts to improve its nursing homes by appointing a seven person watchdog group dubbed the 'Regulated Occupations Evaluation Committee' to ensure regulation violations are being followed up on. Members of the committee will be appointed by the governor and the board is slated to begin working this January.

As it stands right now, nursing home administrators who violate regulations are rarely reported to Health Facility Administrators (HFA) board that controls licensing for nursing home administrators. Zoeller claims this is because current laws are too narrowly tailored, and administrators can only be admonished if they are directly responsible and not for the actions of facility employees. As such, he has proposed two new laws; one aimed at protecting whistleblowers who report wrongdoing and another that requires insurance companies to report payouts resulting from negligence suits. The AG claims the new reforms will help Indiana's nursing homes come up to par.

Hopefully these measures will improve accountability in order to protect residents of the homes who are oftentimes defenseless victims in these situations. However, do these measures go far enough? The United Senior Action group has recommended that Indiana go even further and require full disclosure nursing home violations. This will keep facilities from brushing wrongdoing under the rug in settlement negotiations. Abuse and neglect like getting the wrong medication doses, bed sores, and improper use of restraints are the worst fear of anyone who has to choose a nursing home for their loved one. Hopefully this board will help enable Hoosiers to make an informed and conscientious decision when choosing a facility.

Full post as published by Chicago Personal Injury Lawyer on November 12, 2010 (boomark / email).