Nursing homes aren’t reporting residents’ serious falls, inspector general says

Nursing homes didn’t report 43% of serious falls suffered by their residents to a federal agency, according to an inspector general’s report that said the homes may be cooking their numbers to try to win business.

Men, younger residents and those with government-sponsored health care were least likely to have their serious falls reported.

Large, for-profit and chain nursing homes were the worst at reporting, the Health and Human Services Department’s inspector general said.

Investigators looked at falls where there was an injury or hospitalization for a Medicare-enrolled resident. Medicare requires those incidents to be reported. It found that during a one-year period, there were 42,236 falls that should have been reported, but 18,369 of them weren’t.

Residents who only had Medicare coverage and lacked supplemental health insurance were less likely to have their falls reported. So were short-stay residents.

Nursing homes aren’t reporting residents’ serious falls, inspector general says

Nursing homes didn’t report 43% of serious falls suffered by their residents to a federal agency, according to an inspector general’s report that said the homes may be cooking their numbers to try to win business.

www.washingtontimes.com

 

[Cheeky200386]

Nursing homes didn’t report 43% of serious falls suffered by their residents to a federal agency, according to an inspector general’s report that said the homes may be cooking their numbers to try to win business.

Men, younger residents and those with government-sponsored health care were least likely to have their serious falls reported.

Large, for-profit and chain nursing homes were the worst at reporting, the Health and Human Services Department’s inspector general said.

Investigators looked at falls where there was an injury or hospitalization for a Medicare-enrolled resident. Medicare requires those incidents to be reported. It found that during a one-year period, there were 42,236 falls that should have been reported, but 18,369 of them weren’t.

Residents who only had Medicare coverage and lacked supplemental health insurance were less likely to have their falls reported. So were short-stay residents.

Nursing homes aren’t reporting residents’ serious falls, inspector general says

Nursing homes didn’t report 43% of serious falls suffered by their residents to a federal agency, according to an inspector general’s report that said the homes may be cooking their numbers to try to win business.

www.washingtontimes.com

This has happened to people I know where falls aren’t being reported but the loved ones are finding out when they see bruising.

 

[dwb]

As you get older the first thing to go is balance. Years ago when I was a young 63, I rented a paddle board at the gulf. On a calm day I tried to stand up on that board, nothing doing. No matter what I did I could not balance on that big wide paddle board. I felt very old, but I'm sure I provided lots of laughs for other people on the beach.

 

[Ghoti Ichthus]

As you get older the first thing to go is balance. Years ago when I was a young 63, I rented a paddle board at the gulf. On a calm day I tried to stand up on that board, nothing doing. No matter what I did I could not balance on that big wide paddle board. I felt very old, but I'm sure I provided lots of laughs for other people on the beach.

At least you didn't become lunch

 

[Ghoti Ichthus]

WARNING! [SOAPBOX EMOJI] RANT BELOW

Sometimes the falls are because of short-staffing. Sometimes it's because of inadequate equipment. Sometimes a combination of the two. My Mom fell at the nursing home when she got out of her wheelchair because she tired of pulling herself along the wall using the handrail due to the wheelchair being too tall for her to reach the floor properly. She was supposed to be "wheeling" (sitting in her wheelchair without the footrests, using her feet to propel the wheelchair for exercise and strengthening so she could regain her ability to stand and walk). However, the aide left her for about 10 minutes to attend to something else that he had been assigned. When I walked in, I saw him headed off the ward with a huge bag of trash. When I walked onto the ward, I saw her sitting in the wheelchair by the wall, getting up, then falling. She forgot and failed to grab the handrail to hold onto when she stood up. In the literally less than 2 minutes that the aide was gone, she had undone her seatbelt and gotten out of the wheelchair and fallen. Fortunately, she didn't hit her head and the floor was carpeted with the industrial-strength flat carpeting, so she didn't hurt herself. After the fall, the nursing home did the requisite report, reclassified Mom as not being allowed to be left unsupervised at all, and reversed the seatbelt so she could not reach the buckle to undo it herself. When I asked about a smaller (lower) wheelchair for Mom, they told me she already had the lowest one they had.

If Medicare would authorize and pay for smaller (lower) wheelchairs, then short, shrinking elderly women would have proper equipment to rehab and live safely. These smaller wheelchairs are classified as "specialty," as opposed to "standard," and they cost a bunch more, so Medicare and Medicaid won't authorize and pay, so the nursing home/transitional care didn't have them. This seriously affects small, frail seniors, adversely affects their ablity to rehab, and diminishes both short and long-term quality of life. In contrast, Medicare and Medicaid will authorize and pay for bariatric and large/tall wheelchairs for "larger" people.

This is why on my list of "stuff" to buy out of pocket well in advance of needing it, is a small wheelchair with all the bells and whistles that fits and will shrink along with me. I will definitely mark the chair and the removeable parts.




END OF RANT