Little-known Medicaid and Medicare standards for nursing homes

In 1987, Congress adopted the Nursing Home Reform Act, which led to the promulgation of Federal regulations located at 42 CFR 483 et seq.  Among other obligations, these regulations require that a nursing home:

1.  promote each resident's quality of life;

2.  maintain each patient's dignity and respect;

3.  conduct, on admission, a comprehensive assessment of functional capacity;

4.  develop a comprehensive care plan;

5.  prevent the deterioration of a patient's functional capacity for activities of daily living;

6.  provide necessary services to maintain nutrition, grooming and oral hygiene;

7.  ensure the provision of proper treatment and assistive devices to maintain ambulation, vision and hearing, and assure that pharmaceutical services are available to residents;

8.  avoid or treat pressure sores through proper care;

9.  properly address incontinence;

10.  provide adequate nursing staff (as noted elsewhere in this web log, purchase and operation of nursing homes by private equity for-profit firms has typically resulted in a significant reduction in staffing);

11.  and maintain accurate and complete clinical records.