Articles
National survey on residential care facilities for 2010. Residential care facilities include both assisted living facilities and personal care homes. These facilities, which are not regulated by the federal government, are growing in popularity. To learn more about these facilities and their demographics, click
here.
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Age in Action – the spring 2011 issue is available for your review. This informative journal is published by the Virginia Center on Aging and has educational articles, community activities and important information about our seniors in Virginia. Learn more by clicking on
this
link.
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Assisted Living Regulations for
Virginia. Regulations set various standards for assisted living
facilities operating in Virginia. Keep informed of your rights in an
assisted living facility and review these regulations.
Click
here
to
read.
-
The 2010 Nursing Home Report by Voices for Quality Care provides an excellent summary of how nursing homes in Maryland are performing compared to other nursing homes throughout the country. Learn which skilled nursing homes in Maryland are more frequently cited for Department of Health care deficiencies. In 2010 Maryland nursing homes had rates of pressure sore development that were among the highest in the Country. Before placing a loved one in a nursing home, learn as much as you can about the nursing homes prior performance and record of regulatory compliance.
Click
here
to
read.
-
A three year study on financial exploitation of the elderly in Virginia has been published by the National Institute of Justice. It summarizes many of the problems in both discovering and prosecuting such abuse, which accounts for some $4.6 million in financial losses experienced by Virginia seniors. Most of those losses (86%) are never recovered by the victims. To read the complete study, click
here.
- Senator Grassley focuses on 3rd Party Contractor’s failure to address significant Medicare Fraud
- Medicare overpayments were estimated at more than $36 billion dollars in 2009, yet private contractors hired by Medicare are far from efficient when it comes to referring such cases to law enforcement. Out of some $835 million in questionable payments identified by private contractors in 2007, only 7% was recovered by the Government. Click
here to learn why and what is being done about it.
-
Ban
on
Texting
for
Commercial
Drivers
Announced
by
Department
of
Transportation
(January
2010)
-
Attorney
General
Teams
with
State
Attorneys
to
Combat
Healthcare
Fraud
(June
2010)
-
A report from the Virginia's Office of the Chief Medical Examiner that highlights "older adult victims of intimate partner homicide" among those Virginians age 50 and older. The study suggests that alcohol abuse by one partner is a significant risk factor for violence.
(June
2010)
- House
Passes
the
Elder
Justice
Act
- Learn about Tort reform and President
Obama's views on this issue
-
Learn about the 2009
Government Accounting Office’s assessment of our nursing home and how there are significant issues with funding and oversight of our long term care facilities. Some of them have not been surveyed for 6 years, when they are supposed to be surveyed at least once a year.
(February
2009)
- Falls
in
the
Elderly
Population
-
Prevention
in
the
Long-Term
Care
Setting
by
Jeffrey
Downey
(November
2007)
-
Do
Corporate
Chains
Affect
Quality
of
Care
in
Nursing
Homes?
The
Role
of
Corporate
Standardization
(June
2007)
- Assisted Living Litigation: Considerations in Pursuing Relief for Those Neglected and Abused
by
Jeffrey
Downey
(January 26, 2007)
- Federal Study Finds Nursing Home Enforcement Inadequate
(January 31, 2006)
- Increased Safety in Assisted Living
by
Jeffrey
Downey
TRIAL (August 2004)
- How to Pick a Nursing Home or Assisted Living Facility
by
Jeffrey
Downey
(2002)
-
Malnutrition and Dehydration in Nursing Homes: Key Issues in Prevention and Treatment
(2000)
- Learn about potentially inappropriate medications for the elderly according to the revised medical criteria
In
the
News
Healthcare Fraud Criminally Prosecuted in Florida
The Miami Herald reported on September 22, 2011 that Federal prosecutors busted a Medicare fraud scheme involving over 50 nurses, doctors and others who worked for Florida Home Healthcare Providers and ABC Homecare. It is alleged that these agencies collected over $15 million from taxpayer funded Medicare by submitting false claims for both physical therapy and diabetic healthcare services between 2006 and 2009. The fraud included falsifying patient medical records by noting false symptoms like tremors or impaired vision to make it appear that these patients qualified for treatment at home.
Criminal prosecution is being handled by Justice Department lawyer, Joseph Beemsterboer. As part of the scheme the patients received kickbacks such as cash gifts and groceries in exchange for their allowing Medicare cards to be used for the government billing program.
Contact the Law Office of Jeffrey J. Downey to learn more about Medicare fraud.
Ignore the political rhetoric and learn about the actual Obama Health
care bill by clicking on
this
link.
Hospital sues nursing home alleging that it dumped a severely brain damaged patient and then refused to take him
back.
To
read
more,
click
here.
Congress is again considering passage of the Nursing Home Transparency Act. This act will help assure good standards of care are followed in the long term care industry and strengthen accountability requirements for individual facilities. Read more about this act by clicking on the below link. Consider contacting your congressman to ask him to support this important legislation.
To
read
more,
click
here.
Medicare is implementing a new policy of not paying for medical errors or neglect.
To read more, click
here.
Are nursing home residents overmedicated with antipsychotic medications? These medications can be misused as chemical restraints, to sedate or restrain elderly patients for the staff’s convenience. This article explains how some 30% of all residents of nursing homes are receiving antipsychotic medications.
Click
here.
This informative N.Y.
Times article exposes how nursing homes insulate themselves from liability by creating complex corporate structures, while at the same time cutting nursing staff to increase their profits. With nursing homes making some 75 billion a year just from taxpayer programs like Medicare and Medicaid, and the expected growth in the business as baby boomers come of age, long term care is big business that’s attracting more
Wall
Street
attention and big investments groups.
Legislators
to
Discuss
Nursing
Home
Sale
Federal and state legislators Wednesday announced plans to conduct hearings into the pending sale of 28 Michigan nursing homes to a private-equity firm.
Detroit
Free
Press
|
November
8,
2007
|
