California Nursing Home Abuse Lawyer Blog

Post-Acute Care Staff Must Address Preventable Factors that Can Lead to Hospital Readmission

January 7, 2016 | by Yeroushalmi Law

The rate at which older adults in post-acute care (PAC) facilities are readmitted back into the hospital due to an adverse event is far too high. According to the Office of the Inspector General, 22% of all hospitalized Medicare beneficiaries discharged to post-acute care facilities are victims of an adverse event that sends them back to the hospital. 60% of the adverse events were found to be preventable with better care procedures, such as enhanced medication reconciliation and more vigilant patient monitoring. Residents in post-acute care facilities who experience hospital readmission are less likely to return to the community. Is it crucial that rate of readmissions from post-acute care is significantly reduced.

Nursing Home Staff Must Assess Burdensome Symptoms and Potentially Harmful Care Practices For End-Of-Life Patients

January 6, 2016 | by Yeroushalmi Law

Many nursing home residents reaching the end of life are often vulnerable to burdensome symptoms and potentially improper care practices. Managing symptoms appropriately and preventing negative care practices from occurring is paramount to high-quality care for end-of-life patients. A recent study sought to identify common burdensome symptoms and potentially negative practices for nursing home residents reaching the end of life. The study also aimed to come up with a procedure for care providers in nursing homes to rate impact of symptoms and practices and create recommendations for action.

A Nursing Home Is Convicted of False Claims Act and Settles to Pay $600,000

January 5, 2016 | by Yeroushalmi Law

According to a recent McKnight’s article, Genesis Healthcare LLC has been found guilty of False Claims Act allegations for a skilled nursing facility in Arlington, VA and is subject to pay $600,000. A statement from the Department of Justice, Eastern District of Virginia reported that Potomac Center staff neglected to implement patient care activities as recorded in the resident medical record of a patient and failed to provide certain care activities corresponding to a physician order for over a month in the year 2008.

Nursing Homes Must Implement Infection Control and Prevention Programs

January 4, 2016 | by Yeroushalmi Law

Nursing home residents are often vulnerable to health care-associated infections that can significantly increase morbidity and mortality. Unfortunately, not must is known about common practices that can prevent these kinds of infections in this setting. The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) mandates that all skilled nursing facilities have an infection prevention and control (IPC) program. However, about 38% of nursing homes in the United States receive a citation for deficiency regarding infection control every year.

Trunk Posture Correction Interventions Can Prevent Further Gait Speed Decline in Older Adults

December 31, 2015 | by Yeroushalmi Law

As the older adult population and cost of health care continues to rise worldwide, the focus of health care policy has been redrawn on health promotion and disability prevention among elderly people. When older adults begin experiencing age-related physiological decline, such as slower gait speed, they tend to compensate well by relying on environmental modification and posture adaptation.

Long-Term Care Staff Must be Aware of Patients Who Are Susceptible to Cognitive Frailty

December 30, 2015 | by Yeroushalmi Law

As older adults continue to age, they become more vulnerable not only to diseases and disability, but also to cognitive frailty. Cognitive frailty is defined as the simultaneous development of physical frailty and cognitive impairment. An older adult who experiences late-life depression can be susceptible to both physical frailty and cognitive impairment, especially speed of processing and executive functioning.

Nursing Home and Assisted Living Staff Must Provide Patients Quality Care

December 29, 2015 | by Yeroushalmi Law

As the older population in the United States continues to grow, an increasing number of older adults are receiving long-term services and supports (LTSS) in their communities, assisted living facilities, and nursing homes. One of the greatest concerns regarding LTSS is the quality of services provided to this vulnerable population. Due to the fact that quality of life tends to decline with age, it is important that these services work to maintain or improve older adults’ quality of life as efficiently as possible. A recent study was conducted in hopes of advancing knowledge about changes in various dimensions of quality of life pertaining to health among older adults using long-term services and supports across the different care settings.
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Music and Singing Can Benefit Patients with Dementia

December 28, 2015 | by Yeroushalmi Law

Although dementia is prevalent among the older adult population, a recent study has found that singing or listening to music can be beneficial to older adults with this cognitive disease. Many older adults that live in assisted living facilities and nursing homes suffer from dementia. The illness not only affects cognitive abilities, but also mood and behavior. According to a new study conducted at the University of Helsinki, Finland and published In the Journal of Alzheimer’s Disease, the use of music can improve dementia care for patients in different stages of the disease.

The Rising Problem of Obese Patients in Nursing Homes

December 28, 2015 | by Yeroushalmi Law

Obesity is becoming an increasing problem for the older adult population, and that includes residents in nursing homes and assisted living facilities. These care facilities are having more and more difficulty caring for this new group of severely obese patients. According to a recent article published in The New York Times, the number of obese older adults becoming nursing home residents is growing faster than the ability of nursing homes to handle them. “We don’t have adequate staff. We don’t have adequate equipment. We don’t have adequate knowledge,” says Cheryl Phillips, senior vice president of LeadingAge, an association of nonprofit sponsors of services for elderly people.

Patient Privacy Threatened by Nursing Home Workers Posting Explicit Photos on Social Media

December 26, 2015 | by Yeroushalmi Law

Older adults in nursing homes and assisted living facilities are now vulnerable to a new kind of abuse—abusive photos on social media. ProPublica recently reported 35 cases since 2012 in which staff members of these care facilities secretively posted pictures or videos of residents, some of whom were without clothing. These photos are not only embarrassing and dehumanizing for these older adult victims, they are breaching their privacy, stripping them of their dignity, and, even, breaking the law.