GAO Report Finds Some Nursing Homes Repeatedly Harm Residents

GAO, Jun 08, 2007

WASHINGTON, DC — June 1, 2007 — In 2006, twenty percent of nursing homes were cited for serious deficiencies or those that caused actual harm to residents, according to a recent report by the Government Accountability Office (GAO). Because state inspectors understated deficiencies, the number of violations may be greater, the report said. The GAO also found wide variation across the states in how inspectors found and reported nursing home violations and in how they defined quality care.

Although nursing home care has improved somewhat over the last decade, a “small, but significant number of nursing homes” still “repeatedly harmed residents.” The report mentions 63 nursing homes that cycled in and out of compliance with regulations. They received only minimal penalties and all but two were allowed to continue operations. In one Michigan case, for example, a nursing home provided the wrong medication to a resident for three days, lowering blood sugar to dangerous levels that required hospitalization. The nursing home was fined $1,500, when the maximum fine was $10,000. It is still in business despite repeated violations.

Nursing homes are supposed to meet certain quality–of–care and safety requirements in order to take part in Medicare and Medicaid programs. A federal agency, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) contracts with states to inspect nursing homes and investigate complaints. Inspections focus on quality of service, fire safety and building standards, cleanliness, number of accidents and on whether nursing home residents have developed medical problems such as pressure sores and weight loss.

The GAO report acknowledges that the CMS has worked to improve nursing home monitoring. However, the GAO concludes that the “task of ensuring high–quality nursing home care is still not complete.”