Law Firm Resources & News

In Virginia, nursing homes are inspected by The Office of Licensure and Certification (OLC), a division of the Virginia Department of Health. The OLC investigates complaints and allegations lodged against nursing facilities, hospitals, home care organization, hospice programs, managed care health insurance plans, outpatient surgical hospitals and clinical laboratories. All complaints are reviewed and prioritized…

The Wall Street Journal (August 29, 2006) reports that doctor-owned hospitals are being developed in Texas, California, Pennsylvania, and Indiana and that 130 such hospitals are already in existence. Why doctor-owned hospitals? Profit, of course! These facilities, while providing above average care, are taking the most profitable procedures and patients away from the community hospitals.…

Health issues reporter, Jeff Sturgeon, published an article in today’s issue (August 24, 2006) of the Roanoke Times warning residents and their families of the impact of mandatory arbitration clauses contained in nursing home admission contracts. The article notes that the National Citizens’ Coalition for Nursing Home Reform (NCCNHR) has petitioned the federal government to…

We have all read and heard about the overwhelming problem with obesity in America. The Center for Disease Control (CDC) reports that 57% of Americans are overweight and over 30% are obese. We are talking about millions and millions of adults! Obesity can lead to diabetes, heart attacks, hypertension and more. Many people try diets…

I have always thought Consumer Reports did a great job analyzing new cars, and technologies that hit the market. But last week, their reporting became very personal. A review of 16,000 nursing homes in the U.S. finds that poor quality care is still evident. The review of various facilities not only classified some nursing homes,…

The chances you or your spouse will end up in a Long-Term Care Facility are staggering! 43 percent of all individuals over the age of 65 will eventually enter a nursing home during their lifetime. On average, most of these nursing home stays will last about 2.5 years. Unfortunately, most Americans incorrectly believe that Medicare…

Good news! Home Health Agencies, and nursing homes which furnish certain skilled nursing and rehabilitation care to Medicare beneficiaries may be receiving a 3.1 percent increase in Medicare payments beginning January 1, 2007. The increase, proposed by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) would mean about $560 million for nursing homes and $460…

A recent report from the well-respected Institute of Medicine (IOM) discloses that 1.5 million Americans are harmed by medication errors ever year. More than one-half of these injuries occurred in nursing homes. The IOM is an independent group of health care leaders based in Washington, D.C., and advises the federal government on health issues. The…

It is nice to see that sometimes the administrator of that bad nursing home is getting the blame! A former Pennsylvania nursing home administrator was found guilty on July 7 of one count of healthcare fraud and eight counts of making false statements. The administrator faces 8 to 10 years in prison for defrauding both…

This morning in the paper was a blurb – on a report released this week from Tampa Florida. The American Medical Association believes the federal government’s mandate to reduce Medicare payments will force more doctors to stop seeing elderly and miltary patients. AMA speaker Jeremy Lazarus stated that “over the next nine years, Medicare will…