In a related post from last week, our Maryland Nursing Home Injury Lawyers discussed the importance of researching the up to date results on recent inspections when choosing a nursing home in the state of Maryland, especially with regard to complaints and deficiencies in homes that can lead to nursing home negligence, abuse or personal injury.
The American Association of Retired Persons (AARP) stresses the importance of having nursing home performance data available for consumers, and how important it is to rate facilities based on recent inspections. Many states electronically post “report cards” of various types for consumers to access.
The Maryland Health Care Commission’s Maryland Nursing Home Guide is a rating resource that covers specific information on facilities such as quality measures, deficiencies, recent state inspections, and bed counts, as well as family satisfaction surveys. The guide offers a look at more than 200 nursing facilities and 34 Continuing Care Retirement Communities (CCRCs). This service allows visitors to compare and contrast information on each facility, review quality measures, inspections results, and quality indicators.
The Nursing Home Compare website ranks around 16,000 Medicare and Medicaid-certified national nursing homes on a Five-Star Quality rating system that compares the quality standards on short-term as well as long-term care. The U.S. Nursing Home Information & Registry from Member of the Family.net also reports on 16,000 homes by the state, for survey ratings, complaint information and reports of repeat violations.
The National Consumer Voice for Quality Long-Term Care (NCCNHR) is a nonprofit organization based in Washington that represents consumers looking for long-term care to enhance the lives of the residents—enforcing quality standards for loved ones entering homes, and to prevent unlawful treatment of resident abuse and neglect.
At Lebowitz and Mzhen Personal Injury Lawyers we support the legal right for residents to live in a nursing home environment filled with quality care that improves and maintains the quality of their physical and mental health, and is free from neglect and abuse that could result in nursing home injury.
Special Report: Basic Planning Pays Off When Selecting Nursing Home, Scripps Howard News Service, November 26, 2009
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