
For the first time the proposed Executive Budget suggests a major change in how nursing homes are reimbursed for the care they give. The Governor and the Department of Health are proposing to focus more on quality outcomes. This is something LTCCC has been advocating for years. This is an initiative we must encourage.
The new proposal allocates $50 million in budget year 2009-2010 and $125 million in budget year 2010-2011 to reward facilities both performing well (in year one) and for those who perform well and improve (year two). Facilities with immediate jeopardy or substandard quality of care violations are eliminated from consideration.
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Moving a parent or sibling into a nursing home is emotionally and financially difficult. Keeping them there may be getting even harder.
The Wall Street Journal reports that increasing numbers of frail and sick residents are being forced out of nursing homes across the country. In some cases, they're asked to leave because they are difficult or expensive to care for. It violates federal law for a nursing home to evict residents for those reasons.
Continue reading "Evicting The Elderly" »
An older person's likelihood of entering a nursing home or other long-term care facility is particularly high immediately after the death of a spouse, new research indicates.
Continue reading "Death of spouse ups odds of nursing home care" »
In 2003, two nursing home residents were admitted to a nursing home in New York with pressure sores. Both residents were given care plans that included regular skin assessment, turning and positioning.
Within months, the residents developed multiple pressure sores and one resident developed renal failure partly caused by skin breakdown. The state inspector attributed the failure to administer care plans to a “systems breakdown” caused by staffing issues including lack of communication, high turnover and use of agency staffing.
Continue reading "Staffing Ratios At Nursing Homes Must Be Mandated" »