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The Center for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) is proposing to create an online rating system for nursing homes. CMS would start publishing "five-star ratings" on its Web site in December 2008. The goal is to make it easier for consumers to compare the quality of nursing home before deciding on one. Get details. Foley & Lardner has prepared a summary of the proposal you can read here. The CMS already operates a nursing home comparison site, but does not provide overall ratings. It does provide information such as total number of health deficiencies, fire safety deficiencies, and nursing staff hours per resident per day. |
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Nursing homes exist to provide care for elderly members of society. Many older adults choose to enter a nursing home when they feel that they can no longer safely live alone. The vast majority of nursing homes are clean, comfortable and safe, operated by caregivers with a genuine concern for the well-being of those in their care. However, not all nursing homes are created equal. Some nursing homes are dirty or dangerous, and some caregivers perform acts of abuse or neglect on the residents in their care. Provided here is a basic guide to the legal issues surrounding nursing home abuse. Types of AbuseNursing home abuse falls into three major categories: physical, mental and financial. Physical abuse may include beating, sexual assault or forced ingestion of medication or food. Neglect also falls under physical abuse, and may include such acts as forgetting or refusing to feed a resident or assist him or her with basic hygiene tasks. Mental abuse may include any acts that belittle, humiliate or threaten the resident. Mental abuse may also be inflicted by taking away the resident's freedom of choice, as in non-medically requirement confinement to bed. |
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