A recent nursing home report card gave Illinois an “F” grade, putting our state at the bottom of national rankings for nursing home care. The report card is issued once per year by Families for Better Care, a nursing home resident advocacy group. The elder neglect lawyers at Pintas & Mullins take a closer look at this nursing home report card and why Illinois is ranked so poorly.
Families for Better Care scores each state based on eight factors, including:
1. The average amount of time professional nurses or assistants spend per resident per day 2. The percentage of nursing homes with above average professional nursing staff 3. The percentage of nursing homes with above average health inspections 4. The percentage of nursing homes with deficiencies and severe deficiencies
Severe deficiencies are defined as a violation that places residents in immediate jeopardy, or actual reports of resident abuse, neglect, injury or death. In total, 11 states received a failing grade, including many of our surrounding states, such as Missouri, Michigan, Iowa, and Indiana.
The most obvious difference between the best states for nursing homes and the worst is the amount of time staff spends with residents every day. Unfortunately, Illinois is among the most inadequate places for hiring and retaining enough staff to properly care for residents.
On the brighter side, there are quite a few nursing homes in Central Illinois that consistently do a great job caring for residents and keeping staff and safety levels up. In the state overall, one in four nursing homes cited a severe deficiency within the past year.
The conditions in American nursing homes are a serious issue needing immediate attention, and although individual legislators are largely failing to act, federal agencies are attempting to take the reins. The agency that oversees nursing homes, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS), recently issued a press release on a quality improvement initiative.
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The press release details two initiatives aimed at improving the quality of nursing home care. The first is the expansion and strengthening of the Five Star Quality Rating System for nursing homes. This rating system is widely used and trusted by families who need to place a loved one in a nursing home but are unsure where to start looking. The system, however, is immensely flawed, which is why CMS is taking measures to improve it.
The second initiative CMS will establish new conditions for the home health agency, which deliver care to patients living at home. Starting in 2015, CMS will make changes to the Five Star system by conducting random inspections in a sample of nursing homes, verify staffing reporting with payroll information, increase the number and type of quality measures used to rate facilities, and improve the methods they use to score nursing homes.
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All these efforts are being made to ensure that the Five Star rating system truly reflects the conditions in each nursing home, instead of allowing facilities to forge information to bolster ratings. If implemented properly, these new initiatives will add confidence to families and actually benefit the decision-making process.
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Despite these law changes, nursing home residents throughout the country remain vulnerable to predator nursing home chains and negligent staff. Our team of elder neglect lawyers is currently investigating cases of serious injury in nursing homes, and have decades of experience working in this field. If you or someone you love has been injured in a nursing home, contact our firm now for a free, confidential legal consultation.
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