Roanoke Personal Injury Lawyer - Abuse

Attorneys General Request Suspension of Medicare 5 Star Rating System for Nursing Homes

Dan Frith — Thu, 03 Sep 2009 09:37:08 GMT

Thirty state attorneys general have asked the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) to suspend and revise its Five-Star rating system. The Five-Star system, launched in December 2008, gives each nursing facility a rating between one and five stars, based on the facility’s inspection record, staffing levels, and “quality measures” (e.g., percentage of residents with pressure sores or urinary tract infections).

In short, the Five-Star system grades facilities on a curve within a state, and the attorneys general are requesting ratings that could be compared from state to state. It is unclear how much of an issue this is for consumers, since in most (but not all) cases the search for a facility is done solely within one state.

A copy of the request is available on the National Senior Citizens Law Center (NSCLC) website.

My Take: Attorneys General are politicians and money is the financial life-blood of any successful politician. My guess is that deep-pocketed owners of nursing homes made a little telephone call to their state's attorney general and told them the money will stop unless you help us. Unfortunately, the politicians decided money for re-election was more important than informing the public about which nursing homes in their state provide poor care. A sad commentary indeed!

Originally posted at InjuryBoard by Dan Frith

Norfolk Newspaper Comments on Roanoke Valley Nursing Homes

Dan Frith — Wed, 02 Sep 2009 09:59:44 GMT

The Examiner.com, presumably the online edition of the Norfolk (Virginia)Examiner newspaper, had an interesting article yesterday on nursing homes in the Roanoke, VA area. The article was written by Cara Joyce.

The article only mentioned three area nursing homes: Friendship Manor, Avante, and Carrington Place in Daleville.

Why were these three nursing homes mentioned? Certainly not because of their high ratings with Medicare. I quickly took a look at the Medicare Nursing Home Compare site and found out that Friendship Manor and Avante received 1 star out of a possible 5 star rating. Carrington Place did only slightly better by receiving 2 stars out of the maximum rating of 5 stars.

I am not a school teacher but it looks to me that all three nursing homes in the Roanoke Valley received a failing grade.

Originally posted at InjuryBoard by Dan Frith

Want to Find a Good Nursing Home? Look for Non-Profits

Dan Frith — Thu, 06 Aug 2009 11:25:28 GMT

This story should not surprise anyone. A nursing home focused on resident care and not just making money will usually provide the best care.

Canadian researchers (at McMaster University in Hamilton, Ontario) have concluded that non-profit nursing homes provide better care than for-profit facilities after reviewing the results of 82 studies from 1965 to 2003.

The review authors calculated that if all nursing homes were non-profit, nursing home residents in the United States would receive 500,000 more hours of nursing care per day. Just imagine how good the care could be with the increased staff!

Who are the non-profit nursing homes in Southwest Virginia. Try these facilities:

1. Our Lady of the Valley

2. Roanoke United Methodist Home

3. Brandon Oaks

4. Kendal at Lexington

5. The Summit (Lynchburg, VA)

6. Westminster-Canterbury (Lynchburg, VA)

7. King's Grant Retirement Community (Martinsville, VA)

8. Kroontje Health Care Center (Blacksburg, VA)

9. Warm Hearth Village (Blacksburg, VA)

My Take: Give these nursing homes your "first look" in you are searching for a good facility.

Originally posted at InjuryBoard by Dan Frith

Elder Abuse: Sometimes its Financial

Dan Frith — Thu, 23 Jul 2009 11:31:10 GMT

We have all heard about the poor conditions in America's nursing homes. Facilities that are under-staffed...residents suffering from malnutrition... dehydration and decubitus ulcercs. But not all abuse of the elderly is related to their physical/mental condition or medical care...sometimes its financial abuse.

Lawyers and financial advisers are seeing more cases of adult children turning to their parents for financial help because of the troubled economy. In some cases, adult children are making a grab for assets held by parents who are too fragile mentally or physically to make decisions that are in their own best interests. In other instances, parents may feel pressured to hand over money or property, or even change their will, for fear of losing a more-precious asset: a child's love.

A recent article in the Wall Street Journal focuses attention on this very problem. The article tells several stories of elder financial abuse by family members.

My Take: Bank, credit card, and investment statements should be regularly reviewed by an outside party the senior knows and trusts.

Originally posted at InjuryBoard by Dan Frith

Recurring Problems with Nursing Homes #6

Dan Frith — Fri, 10 Jul 2009 06:11:00 GMT

Lauren and I have reviewed over 500 potential nursing home cases over the years and we see some problems over and over and over again. I decided we would share with our readers some of the more frequent problems...and the answers.

Problem #6: The Director of Nursing has a meeting with the family to tell them, "we don't have enough staff to take care of all of your father's needs...you will have to hire your own private-duty aide to provide the needed care." Can they do this?

The answer is "no." You should tell the Director of Nursing that it is the nursing home's responsibility to provide necessary care (as documented by the Care Plan or ordered by a doctor), and that claiming a shortage of staff or money is no excuse. Also, remind the Director of Nursing that federal law requires the nursing home to provide the care a resident needs to reach the highest practicable level of functioning and that requiring or suggesting private-duty aides is a violation of federal law. The federal law can be found at Section 483.25 of Title 42 of the Code of Federal Regulations

Originally posted at InjuryBoard by Dan Frith

Recurring Problems with Nursing Homes #3

Dan Frith — Wed, 03 Jun 2009 06:25:00 GMT

Problem #3: You are told that your father must have a feeding tube inserted because he is taking too long to eat.

Wrong! Feeding tubes are a last resort. The nursing home must take specific steps toward maintaining a resident's ability to eat. The steps include: (1) prompting the resident to eat, (2) providing therapy to improve swallowing skills, (3) feed the resident by hand, (4) providing foods which are more easily eaten such as pureed foods, (5) provide utensils with easy to grip handles.

A resident's slowness in eating is not a sufficient reason for the placement of a feeding tube. The fact the nursing home has failed to hire sufficient staff to feed the residents is not a sufficient reason for the use of a feeding tube.

Originally posted at InjuryBoard by Dan Frith

Recurring Problems with Nursing Homes #2

Dan Frith — Tue, 02 Jun 2009 14:23:57 GMT

Problem #2: Many nursing homes tell the resident's family that they may "visit" only during set or scheduled visitation hours and may never visit after a certain time at night.

Wrong! The Nursing Home Reform Law provides that a nursing home may not limit visiting hours for "immediate family or other relatives." The law is found in Section 483.10(j)(1) of Title 42 of the Code of Federal Regulations. For late night visitations, federal guidelines suggest the visit take place outside of the resident's room to avoid disturbing a sleeping roommate. So, if you don't get off work until later in the day don't let the Director of Nursing, or others, tell you that you cannot visit a loved one.

We tell all of our client's family members that it is often best to visit at unusual times of the day to get a real picture of the care provided at the nursing home.

Originally posted at InjuryBoard by Dan Frith

Want to Know the Best and Worst Nursing Homes within 50 Miles of Wytheville, Virginia?

Dan Frith — Thu, 14 May 2009 06:33:00 GMT

The information might be important if you are trying to decide where to place a loved one who can no longer care for himself/herself at home. But how can you determine which nursing home is the best? If this issue is important to you, you job just got a lot easier.

The answer is provided by a new "5-Star Quality Rating System" provided by Medicare. The Five-Star System was created to help consumers, their families, and caregivers compare nursing homes more easily and help identify areas about which you may want to ask questions.

The nursing homes receiving the best ratings include:

Westwood Center (Bluefield, VA)

Highland Ridge Rehabilitation Center (Dublin, VA)

Glenwood Park (Princeton, WV)

Radford Nursing and Rehabilitation (Radford, VA)

Heritage Hall - Laurel Meadows (Laurel Fork, VA)

The nursing homes receiving some of the worst ratings include:

Carrington Place at Wytheville - Birdmont Center

Bland County Nursing and Rehabilitation (Bastion, VA)

Golden Living Center - Blue Ridge (Galax, VA)

Maples Nursing Home (Bluefield, WV)

Grayson Nursing and Rehabilitation Center (Independence, VA)

Francis Marion Manor (Marion, VA)

Heritage Hall - Tazewell, Virginia

My Take: Be an informed consumer of health care and do your loved one a favor....check out the nursing home BEFORE you decide what is best for a family member.

Originally posted at InjuryBoard by Dan Frith

Want to Know the Best and Worst Nursing Homes within 50 miles of Marion, Virginia?

Dan Frith — Mon, 11 May 2009 06:13:00 GMT

The nursing homes receiving the best ratings include:

SW Virginia Mental Health Institute and Geriatric Treatment Center - Marion, VA

Clinch Valley Medical Center - Richlands, VA

Westwood Center - Bluefield, VA

Waddell Nursing and Rehab Center - Galax, VA

The nursing homes receiving some of the worst ratings include:

Francis Marion Manor - Marion, VA

Valley Health Care Center - Chilhowie, VA

Heritage Hall - Tazewell, VA

Grace Healthcare of Abingdon - Abingdon, VA

Edgemont Center - Wytheville, VA

Grayson Nursing and Rehab - Independence, VA

Carrington Place at Wytheville/Birdmont Center - Wytheville, VA

Bland County Nursing and Rehabilitation Center - Bastian, VA

McDowell Nursing and Rehabilitation Center - Gary, WV

Maples Nursing Home - Bluefield, WV

Golden Living Center/Blueridge - Galax, VA

Mercer Nursing and Rehabilitation Center - Bluefield, WV

My Take: Be an informed consumer of health care and do your loved one a favor....check out the nursing home BEFORE you decide what is best for a family member.

Originally posted at InjuryBoard by Dan Frith

Want to Know the Best and Worst Nursing Homes within 50 miles of Hillsville, Virginia?

Dan Frith — Sun, 10 May 2009 06:00:00 GMT

The nursing homes receiving the best ratings include:

Trinity Mission Health and Rehab - Hillsville, VA

Wytheville Community Hospital ECU - Wytheville, VA

The nursing homes receiving some of the worst scores include:

Golden Livingcenter - Galax, VA

Carrington Place at Wytheville/Birdmont Center - Wytheville, VA

Edgemont Center - Wytheville, VA

Grayson Nursing and Rehab Center - Independence, VA

Heritage Hall - Blacksburg, VA

Bland County Nursing & Rehabilitation Center - Bastian, VA

My Take: Be an informed consumer of health care and do your loved one a favor....check out the nursing home BEFORE you decide what is best for a family member.

Originally posted at InjuryBoard by Dan Frith