Nursing Home Crusader Calls for Change
He says ratings don’t function well to explain abuse
By Sarah Stultz
Albert Lea Tribune
April 17, 2009
The Oklahoman founder of a national watchdog group for nursing homes on Thursday called state and national governments to action to change how substantiated abuse cases are cited and how they influence the rating of nursing homes on the federal Medicare.gov Web site.
Because families of nursing home residents rely heavily on this rating system, the information there needs to be accurate and complete, he said. Otherwise, the whole system should be taken away.
During what was the third town hall meeting at the Albert Lea Inn regarding allegations of abuse from January to May of last year at Good Samaritan Society of Albert Lea, Bledsoe walked through examples of state health department reports and showed how the Medicare.gov nursing home rating system works.
He went through numerous Minnesota Department of Health reports, including the report released last August alleging abuse at Good Sam. Many, including that report, showed there was substantiated abuse. But because the facilities self reported the incidents and implemented a plan of correction before the state health department arrived, they were not cited any deficiencies, he said.
In fact, more than 80 percent of the cases where abuse was substantiated in Minnesota over the last four years, there were not any deficiencies cited.
“This just blows my mind,” he said.
Bledsoe said he thinks all substantiated abuse cases should be included on a federal database. That way people searching for a nursing home are able to see a more accurate picture of what has happened.
Abridged
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