Emergency Department (ED) visits and subsequent hospital admissions from nursing homes (NHs) are common and can be costly to the patient and the health care system. Unfortunately, many of the over 2.2 million ED visits annually by nursing home residents are preventable. The Office of the Inspector General reported that…
Far too many nursing homes are experiencing an extreme shortage of staff that has diminished the quality and safety of care for their elderly and disabled. Frailty and dependency on nursing home staff is prevalent among residents who not only need assistance in performing basic activities of daily living, but…
Hip fractures (HFs) are highly prevalent among older adults and are a major cause of severe, often constant functional impairment. Those with HFs have diminished self-care abilities, causing increased disability and significant loss in independence and quality of life. Although there are those who are able to obtain complete functional…
Research shows that nearly 80% of nursing home residents have osteoporosis and 10.8% have a hip fracture. Dementia significantly increases residents’ risk of a hip fracture. Although treating osteoporosis in nursing homes was proven to be feasible by the Vitamin D and Osteoporosis Study (ViDOS), only one-third of residents prone to…
The Servicemembers Civil Relief Act (SCRA) was passed by Congress in order to grant certain legal protection for members of the military. However, Corporate America and its front groups have found a loophole in the SCRA that allows them to violate the act without being held accountable—forced arbitration. This puts…
It has taken far too long, but the Obama administration is finally cracking down on nursing homes to curtail inappropriate use of antipsychotic medications such as Abilify, Risperdal, Zyprexa, and clozapine on residents with Alzhiemer’s disease and dementia. Federal investigators report that many older Americans are overusing psychiatric drugs and…
Justice against the Palestinian Authority has finally been served. The six terrorist attacks following the Second Intifada’s end in 2004 was proven on Monday by lead trial counsel Kent Yalowitz of Arnold & Porter to have been supported by the Palestinian Authority in the form of money and personnel. Yalowitz…
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…
A recent study exploring the effectiveness of twenty-four-hour reports in infection prevention and control showed that they are essential components. Infections are known to be highly prevalent among nursing home residents and can lead to morbidity and mortality. This fact is unsurprising, considering that residents are constantly clustered in constrained…
According to the Center of Disease Control and Prevention, there are a total of 16,100 nursing homes in America with approximately 1.5 million patients residing in these facilities. Due to the rapidly growing baby boomer generation, the number of patients residing in these facilities is bound to increase. Although a…