Nursing Home News

Arbitration Clauses in Nursing Home Contracts: Are They Binding?

March 7, 2016 | Lebowitz & Mzhen

In an ideal world, a nursing home would care for elderly people and allow them to live out their last years in peace and with dignity. However, anyone who has kept an eye on the headlines knows that this is not always the case. In too many cases, nursing home employees neglect or abuse the very residents for whom they are charged with caring. In such cases, the abused resident or their family may want to hold the nursing home responsible through a civil lawsuit seeking monetary compensation for their loved one’s suffering.

However, nursing homes, like many other businesses, have started to include arbitration clauses in the contracts that are signed prior to resident admission. These arbitration clauses are essentially an agreement not to go through the legal system, should any problems arise between the parties. Instead, the case would go before an arbiter whose decision very likely would be final.

The problems with arbitration clauses are several, but the chief concerns are that they are out of the public eye and are not always neutral. This is because the nursing home contract will often designate which arbiter will handle the case, essentially allowing the nursing home to pick their own “judge.”

New Study Shows One in Ten Older Americans Suffer from Abuse at the Hands of Their Caretakers

November 20, 2015 | Lebowitz & Mzhen

Earlier this month, a study was released by the New England Journal of Medicine analyzing the frequency with which nursing home residents have suffered from abuse at the hands of their caretakers. The result was that one in 10 older Americans suffer abuse of one kind or another. According to a national news source that reported on the study, the actual statistics may be significantly higher than those that were reported because of reporting problems inherent in the nursing home context.

The report indicates that the “young old” are the most likely to be abused, since they are the ones who are most often living with a spouse or adult child: the two groups who are found to engage in abuse most frequently. However, the report also notes that nursing home abuse is much more prevalent than many realize or are willing to acknowledge.

Physical Abuse in Nursing Homes

Perhaps one reason why the instances of in-home abuse are so high is the fact that the abuse statistics include financial abuse. Removing financial abuse from the equation, the ratio of abuse occurring in a loved one’s home and in a nursing home drastically decreases. This is because the most common type of abuse in nursing homes is physical abuse.

New Report Claims Poor Working Conditions Responsible in Many Nursing Home Abuse Cases

November 13, 2015 | Lebowitz & Mzhen

Earlier this week, researchers in Michigan released their discoveries in a recent study seeking out the common causes of nursing home abuse and nursing home neglect. According to the study, the working conditions for the employees of the nursing home have a big effect on the quality of care that residents are provided.

The study concludes that worker safety and happiness are directly related to resident safety and happiness. In fact, the article relies on the premise that, for the most part, individual nursing home employees are not bad people, but they are sometimes left in frustrating situations or those in which it is nearly impossible to provide the proper level of care. Chief among the problems that can lead to an abusive or neglectful situation is understaffing. In fact, it is believed that many of the most skilled and dedicated nurses leave the private nursing home sector due to frustrations related to understaffing.

Another factor, according to the study, is the quality and level of training that the employees receive prior to being allowed to work on their own. The more training that employees receive prior to being let out on their own, the lower the instances of abuse or neglect.

Nursing Homes Across the Country Shown to Be Hotbed for MRSA Virus

June 2, 2015 | Lebowitz & Mzhen

Late last month, an article by Newsmax Health conducted an investigation into a frightening statistic that the superbug MRSA can be found in roughly 25% of all U.S. nursing homes. According to the report, the largest contributing cause to the transmission of this antibiotic-resistant bug is contaminated gloves.

The article, working off a study conducted by Infection Control & Hospital Epidemiology, notes that there is a gap in education among nursing home employees regarding the transmission and seriousness of MRSA.

The study, which took place in Maryland and Michigan nursing homes, showed that in 28% of nursing homes the MRSA bacteria was present at some level. The largest contributors were glove- and gown-contamination, with glove-contamination being more prevalent. The study explains that washing hands and changing gloves between residents is crucial to stop the spread of the deadly disease.

Nursing Home Rankings Should Be Taken Seriously by Prospective Residents

May 28, 2015 | Lebowitz & Mzhen

With the advent of the internet, it has become easier than ever to review our experiences with the various companies and institutions we do business with on a day-to-day basis. In fact, some suggest that the higher prevalence of peer reviews in an industry, the better the overall quality across the industry, since business owners know they will likely be held accountable by their unsatisfied customers. Nursing homes, apparently, are no exception.

The federal government has been ranking nursing homes for years. However, despite the availability of the information, many people fail to check nursing-home rankings before checking in, or sending a loved one to stay there. A recent article by Newsweek explains that nursing home rankings may be a fairly accurate way of assessing the level of care provided at a facility.

Level of Care in Nursing Homes Expected to Decrease as Homes Focus on Short-Term Residents

April 17, 2015 | Lebowitz & Mzhen

Nursing homes traditionally cater to two types of residents: short-term residents entering the facility after being treated for a disease or illness at a hospital, and long-term residents needing end-of-life care. Often, as one may expect, the needs of each of these groups are different. For example, a resident expecting only a short stay in a home may be more interested in additional features, such as putting greens and hot baths on demand. However, those needing end-of-life care are less concerned with these “extras” and are more concerned with the basic necessities.

In a recent article by the New York Times, it is noted that there is a current trend showing that nursing homes are focusing on catering to the short-term residents, potentially at the expense of the safety and benefits of longer-term residents. The article cites a 2014 study conducted by the United States Department of Health and Human Services, showing that 22% of short-term residents suffer some kind of harm during their stay. Another 11% suffer temporary injury. The incidents of injury to long-term residents have historically been much higher.

New Regulations on Nursing Homes Hope to Bring Increased Quality of Care to Residents in Delmarva

March 3, 2015 | Lebowitz & Mzhen

It is a well-known fact that nursing homes do not enjoy an unblemished reputation when it comes to the quality of care they provide to their residents. In fact, it seems that one can hardly go a couple days without reading about some instance of abuse, neglect, or other misconduct committed by nursing home staff or management.

Because of these concerns, lawmakers across the country have banded together to increase the regulations placed on nursing homes in the hopes that the quality of care being provided will increase. According to one DelmarvaNow report, a local online news source, the following areas will be targeted by federal regulations:

Measures of facilities’ use of anti-psychotic drugs; and
The use of more refined metrics to check for adequate staffing.

Delmarva Nursing Homes Are On Par

The article goes into a superficial, although somewhat useful, analysis of Delmarva nursing homes, noting that the peninsula’s nursing facilities fare about average as compared to the rest of the nation. One area where the local nursing homes excel is in the area of prevalence of pressure ulcers, use of restraints, and the extent of falls resulting in injury. This is an important category, but it is far from the only important metric in the study.

Connecticut Nursing Home Cited for Several Failures in Care

January 30, 2015 | Lebowitz & Mzhen

Earlier this month, a local Connecticut newspaper published a long list of local nursing homes that had been cited by the state’s department of health for failures in nursing homes. One of those failures resulted in the preventable death of a resident.

According to the report, back in November of last year, one local nursing home in Connecticut was fined $1,020 for a failure in care that led to a resident’s death. One of the residents at Bridgeport Manor died last October of a cardiac arrest after an oversight of the nursing home staff sent her to the hospital.

Apparently, the woman was admitted to the nursing home with throat cancer and had a tracheostomy tube. One night, nursing home staff found the woman on the floor with the tube dislodged. However, the nursing staff failed to call for help immediately and waited 20 minutes to do so.

Nursing Home Video Catches Employees Abusing Elderly Patients

December 5, 2014 | Lebowitz & Mzhen

Earlier last month in Winter Park, Florida, two nursing home employees were caught on camera abusing a 76-year-old resident. According to one local news source, the two employees were seen on camera pretending to punch the man, stopping only inches from his face.

They were also seen holding the man down as they would grab his wrists and hit him with his own hands. When he tried to get away, they grabbed his wrists and prevented him from moving away. The employees also would pretend to hit the man with one hand, and then as he reacted they would hit him with their other hand.

The employees were caught engaging in this awful behavior by the man’s family, who had placed a “nanny cam” in the man’s room prior to the abuse. Both employees will face criminal charges for their role in the abuse of the nursing home resident.

Large Nursing Home Company Settles $38 Million Suit Based on Substandard Care

October 22, 2014 | Lebowitz & Mzhen

Extendicare Health Services is one of the largest nursing home chains in the nation. It is also the subject of one of the largest, if not the largest, settlements in a quality-of-care case the country has ever seen. According to a report by one news source, Extendicare recently reached an agreed-upon $38 million settlement.

The charges against the nursing home chain were several. Some of the charges related to improper billing of the federal government. However, the bulk of the claims were in regard to the standard and quality of care that Extendicare was providing to its aging residents.

According to the report, the investigation focused on 33 Extendicare facilities in eight different states, including Pennsylvania, Indiana, Michigan, Minnesota, Ohio, Kentucky, Washington, and Wisconsin. The claims alleged that the facilities employed fewer nurses than were needed to support the number of patients that the facility housed. In addition, there were claims that the nursing home staff members were not being adequately trained.