I just read a very troubling report from the Inspector General for the Center for Medicare and Medicaid Services about deficiencies in nursing homes nationwide. Any nursing home that accepts Medicare or Medicaid patients must meet Federal standards and be inspected at least every 15 months for compliance with those standards. If the nursing home fails to meet one or more standard, a deficiency is issued. In each of the past three years more than 91% of the nursing homes surveyed received deficiencies.
Between 2005 and 2007 the average number of deficiencies per nursing home increased more than 10% from 6.4 to 7.0. In each of the past three years. for-profit homes have a higher percentage of deficiency than not-for-profit or government homes. In addition, for-profit nursing homes had a higher average number of deficiencies than either of the other two groups. For example, in 2007 for-profit homes had an average 7.6 deficiencies per home, while not-for-profits had 5.7 and government homes had 6.3.
Of even greater concern is the nature of the deficiencies. The most commonly cited deficiencies for all nursing home over the past three years were quality of care, resident assessment and quality of life. A more alarming finding is that in 2007 nearly one in every five nursing homes surveyed were cited for deficiencies which caused actual harm to a patient or placed the patient’s life in immediate jeopardy. These numbers are shocking. Patients in nursing homes are totally vulnerable and at the mercy of their caregivers. There is no excuse for injury or harm to a patient from a failure to meet these Federal standards.
