A recent fraud trial puts nursing home owners in a new spotlight. The CMS staffing mandate calls for increased staff and working hours to improve the quality of care for nursing home residents. However, for some, the mandate means less revenue and higher costs.
With a public fraud trial at hand, nursing homes are under pressure to appropriately abide by the staffing mandate. It is no secret that nursing homes are facing serious staffing predicaments, which include not only finding staff but maintaining consistent schedules. While most nursing home owners are determined to find and hire staff, others are more focused on finding unethical ways to manipulate the staffing requirements.
Josh Henreckson of McKnight’s Long-Term Care News writes, “Pennsylvania nursing homes were required to provide 2.7 hours of care per resident, per day at the time of the infractions. Consistent failure to meet this state threshold can result in facilities being placed on a provisional license or even being shut down”.
CMS’s mandate would increase the requirement to 3.0 hours of care per resident nationally. The mandate is meant to increase staffing levels so that the patients in long-term care facilities receive the best quality care. If staff members are not going to be transparent about their staff numbers and hours, residents will lack the care they require. However, the increases in staffing put more pressure to find the workers and funding to raise staffing levels.
Nursing home facilities must abide by the staffing regulations in place so that residents receive the proper care. If you or a loved one is facing nursing home abuse, neglect, or mistreatment, contact Dougherty Leventhal & Price today! Don’t hesitate! Remember… Injury? Call DLP. (570) C-A-L-L-D-L-P.
Source
Henreckson, Josh. “State Staffing Minimums Provided Motive to Falsify Nursing Home Records, Witness Testifies in ‘ghost Employees’ Trial.” McKnight’s Long-Term Care News, 28 Nov. 2023, www.mcknights.com/news/state-staffing-minimums-provided-motive-to-falsify-nursing-home-records-witness-testifies-in-ghost-employees-trial/.
