Boris Bartels/Flickr
The state will be taking a closer look at how nursing homes care for patients, scrutinizing staffing levels and playing a role in evaluating patient satisfaction and staff turnover under a law signed last week by the governor.
The changes are part of a package of “quality and accountability” reforms proposed by the Schwarzenegger administration weeks after a California Watch investigation detailed the shortcomings of a 2004 law that pumped nearly $1 billion into nursing homes.
The articles, co-published with nearly a dozen media partners, focused on more than 230 nursing homes that saw a boost in funding under the law but still managed to cut staffing, wages or fall below a decade-old personnel minimum.
This year, under the budget trailer bill signed Oct. 19, the nursing homes will be audited, with inspectors poring over payroll records to determine if staffing rates meet minimums set in 2000.
If the nursing homes fall beneath staffing minimums on 5 percent to 49 percent of the days audited, they’ll be fined $15,000. If staffing falls short more than half of the time, the fine will be $30,000, according to the law.
The state will also begin setting aside those fines and an additional 1 percent of statewide nursing home Medi-Cal funds to reward homes that meet and exceed quality measures.
Starting in 2011, the homes will stand to see extra money if they meet or exceed the new standards. The system will encourage homes to immunize residents and discourage them from using physical restraints or allowing patients to develop bedsores.
For the fiscal year starting in 2012, nursing homes will be rated on how well they retain staff members and return residents to community-based care. They will also be expected to refrain from using chemical restraints or drugs meant to sedate patients.
The law also sets aside $1.9 million for the local ombudsman program, which employs volunteers who advocate for and investigate complaints on behalf of residents. That funding accounts for nearly one-third of total program funding, with federal funds and proceeds from nursing home citations filling the rest of the ombudsman budget, according to state ombudsman Joseph Rodrigues.
Meanwhile, the 2004 law that overhauled the way nursing homes are funded in California is still being examined. The California Healthcare Foundation, a nonprofit that studies healthcare outcomes, is working on a study to determine whether the law improved nursing home quality.
Additionally, officials from the state departments that fund and inspect nursing homes plan to meet Friday with nursing home resident advocates, industry representatives and union leaders. On the agenda, according to Vanessa Baird, a Department of Healthcare Services deputy director: discussing how nursing homes that qualify for the incentive funding will be paid.
Comments
via Twitter