Articles and Blogs

On March 25, 2022, a Tennessee jury found Nurse RaDonda Vaught guilty of “criminally negligent homicide” and “gross neglect of an impaired adult.” Nurse Vaught will be sentenced in May and may face a jail term of three to six years. This particular case has captured a great deal of attention. Many health care... READ MORE

A new Indiana law imposes several written disclosure requirements that health facilities must provide to prospective residents. The new Indiana law also includes requirements to follow when developing and executing a resident care plan. New Written Disclosures to Prospective Residents The new Indiana law requires that health facilities provide written disclosures on the following... READ MORE

Most skilled nursing facilities and state survey agencies are not correctly reporting and investigating abuse and neglect incidents that occur against skilled nursing residents, according to the June 7, 2019, Office of the Inspector General (“OIG”) of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services report titled Incidents of Potential Abuse and Neglect at Skilled Nursing... READ MORE

On February 12, CMS hosted an Open Door Forum on the upcoming changes to the Nursing Home Compare Five-Star rating system.  These changes will be effective on February 20th.  Nursing facilities will be able to privately view their revised ratings by mid-morning on Friday, February 13, via their MDS portal login. The updated scoring system may... READ MORE

The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) has unofficially announced it will not be enforcing the upcoming March 23rd compliance program requirements until final regulations are published.  As required under the Affordable Care Act, nursing facilities are required to have a compliance program in place by March 23, 2013.  Despite ambiguity in the actual statute,... READ MORE

The Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (PPACA) requires all skilled nursing facilities (SNFs) and nursing facilities (NFs) to have an effective compliance and ethics program in place by March 23, 2013.  Unfortunately, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) has failed to publish final regulations covering these programs, as required under PPACA, by... READ MORE

In an on-going push to regulate the use of antipsychotic medications in nursing facilities, another piece of legislation has failed to pass Congress.  The Senate did not pass a proposed regulation that would have standardized protocols for obtaining informed consent before administering antipsychotics for off-label use.   READ MORE

CMS released a Survey & Certification letter today providing guidance for nursing homes that desire to utilize on-site gardens to provide fresh produce for residents. After numerous inquiries from facilities, CMS confirmed that residents can benefit from home-grown foods as long as food-borne illness dangers are mitigated to the greatest extent possible.  READ MORE

A case currently pending before the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB), as mentioned here, is expected to be decided and released within the next few months.  This case, Specialty Healthcare and Rehabilitation of Mobile, has been pending before the Board since December of 2010, and, if decided as expected by those following the case,... READ MORE