A petition has recently been drafted by a national, non-profit consumer advocacy organization that bans nursing homes from using arbitration agreements. This petition has been addressed to the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS), urging them to cease the use of pre-dispute, forced arbitration clauses in nursing home contracts.…
Nursing home patients who receive what is deemed as “ultra high” therapy—at least 720 minutes per week—generate many nursing homes’ largest payments from Medicare. According to a Wall Street Journal analysis of billing records, Medicare’s ultrahigh rate was estimated to be about $560 per day in 2013. The estimate was…
According to a recent government study reported in The New York Times, 82% of residents who live in assisted living facilities suffer from at least one of the three most common chronic conditions: Alzheimer’s disease, high blood pressure and heart disease. The alarming way in which these ailments overlap has…
It has recently been discovered that patients are being hospitalized and dying due to nursing homes’ failure to properly manage the blood thinner Coumadin. The federal government is now instructing health inspectors across America to be vigilant in spotting these errors by nursing homes. A memo sent last month to…
Researchers of a recent study reported in the Journal of Alzheimer’s Disease examined over 1,400 Italian seniors from ages 65 to 84 and found interesting associations between coffee consumption and risk for mild cognitive impairment (MCI). They found that people who consistently drank one to two cups of coffee per…
According to a recent news article from The New York Times, nursing homes are beginning to take the hospital’s place when it comes to basic health care, preventing unnecessary hospitalizations for older adult residents. Not only does this shift in focus allow residents who do not do well in hospital…
A nursing home in St. Paul, Minnesota is giving its residents something to smile about every day—an employee’s teacup poodle. Nala, who has become the nursing home’s perky mascot, lovingly interacts with the residents on a daily basis, riding the nursing home’s elevator and leaping onto wheelchairs and beds to…
60% of Massachusetts nursing homes have been found to advertise misleading statements about their services. A review by the Alzheimer’s Association of Massachusetts and New Hampshire has reported that these nursing homes have claimed that they can meet the care needs of dementia patients when, in fact, this cannot be…
Far too many nursing homes fail to keep their promise to provide quality care for their residents. With 300 Golden Living Centers nationwide, Golden Gate National Senior Care LLC is one such nursing home company that has failed to provide basic services to their vulnerable, older adult residents. Last Wednesday,…
A new stringent system is waiting to be implemented by the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services to Nursing Home Compare that will lower the cut-off points regarding the attainment of certain star levels. The system calls for 11 new quality measures that threaten to jeopardize star ratings of as…