Maryland Nursing Home Lawyer Blog
In an effort to help seniors and families better evaluate and choose the right nursing home, the federal government has recently improved the Nursing Home Compare website, according to a recent article in Forbes.
As our Maryland nursing home injury blog has previously discussed, the Nursing Home Compare website is a web service listing around 16,000 Medicaid and Medicare-certified nursing homes around the county on a Five-Star Quality rating system—that compares and contrasts the quality standards on both short-term and long-term care.
The newly improved Nursing Home Compare website will reportedly feature 21 new criteria that help to measure the quality of care each resident will receive at different nursing homes and facilities around the country. The government will now include valuable experience from nursing home patients in both short-term and long-term care facilities, making it available on the website. It will make any complaints about a nursing home available, such as nursing home negligence or abuse, providing the necessary information.
The Nursing Home Compare’s new criteria will replace a set of 17 criteria and will focus on the specific and crucial issues affecting nursing home residents today, like pressure sores, infections, nursing home falls, pain, and general health and well being. The new criteria will also discuss the different percentages of nursing home residents who have experienced physical restraint, claim to have experienced pain that is severe to moderate, and who have been given vaccine for pneumonia.
Other important information what will later be added will include the amount of civil money penalties and other related law enforcement actions that have been brought against the nursing homes along with any other claims that have been substantiated over the past three years.
The criteria changes are being made by the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, in order to help families and residents better understand the quality of care at nursing homes, and to help them understand the performance differences between homes, in order to find the best possible fit for their family member or loved one.
Contact our attorneys at Lebowitz and Mzhen Personal Injury Lawyers today, to discuss your nursing home rights.
Feds Update Website to Help Families Choose Nursing Home, Forbes, August 1, 2011
Related Web Resources:
Maryland Health Care Commission, Nursing Home Guide
Starting the Nursing Home Search, AARP
U.S. Nursing Home Information & Registry from Member of the Family.net
Medicare: Nursing Home Compare Website
Related Blog Posts:
Nursing Home Fall Awareness and Prevention, Maryland Nursing Home Lawyer Blog, May 6, 2011
Steps to Prevent Bedsore Development in Nursing Homes, Maryland Nursing Home Lawyer Blog, December 30, 2010
Inspection Reports in Nursing Homes—Preventing Personal Injury, Maryland Nursing Home Lawyer Blog, December 8, 2009
Home vs. Hospital—Basic Planning to Choose the Right Nursing Home Care, Maryland Nursing Home Lawyer Blog, November 30, 2009