Pennsylvania Nursing Home Abuse Lawyer Blog

According to the University of Pittsburgh’s Institute on Aging, an average of 226,000 people are hospitalized annually with flu-related symptoms and the rate is higher for the elderly with 560 hospitalizations per 100,000 people. The highest rate of death from flu related symptoms is in those seniors 85 years old and older.

A study done by the university states vaccination is the still the most effective way to prevent influenza from stiking older adults.

The Centers for Disease Control offers the following suggestions for keeping the flu from having a major impact on long term health care facilities:

Skilled nursing facilities can expect another 2 percent cut in Medicare rates beginning January 2013 and this cut comes on the heels of an 11 percent cut to Medicare last month.

The failure of the Super Committee to agree on a way to trim $1.2 trillion from the federal deficit is being blamed for the cut.

According to the Pennsylvania Health Care Association, nursing homes were hit with the almost $200 million cut in October under the new rule by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services. This cut along with other provisions included in the rule could reduce Medicare rates by as much as 18 percent, or $18 million, PHCA said in a recent news release.

The appointment of Marilyn Tavenner to replace Donald Berwick, M.D. as administrator for the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid (CMS) is getting strong support from nursing home groups, according to an article on McKnights.com.

In the article, Alan G. Rosenbloom, president of the Alliance for Quality Nursing Home Care, said that Tavenner “developed invaluable experience” while working with skilled nursing providers as Virginia’s Secretary of Health and Human Resources.

He added, “Marilyn Tavenner is a strong choice to lead CMS because of her reputaion as a smart, competent administrator, and because she has a strong working knowledge of how Medicare and Medicaid funding adequacy are both integral to the ongoing ability of SNFs to provide high quality long-term and post-acute care to U.S. seniors.”

According to an article on USAToday.com, there are four common medications that are responsible for sending an estimated 100,000 seniors to the hospital from drug reactions.

“Of the thousands of medications available to older patients, a small group of blood thinners and diabetes medications caused a high proportion of emergency hospitalizations for adverse drug events among elderly Americans,” said lead study author Dr. Daniel Budnitz, director of the U.S. Centers for Disease Control (CDC) and Prevention’s medication safety program.

According to the article, two medicines for diabetes and two blood-thinning agents account for two-thirds of the drug-related emergency hospitalizations.

The attorneys and staff of O’Connor Law wish you and your family a Happy Thanksgiving and safe journey to those who are travelling this holiday weekend!

A small pilot program involving nursing homes in five Oregon counties made voting in last week’s elections a cinch for residents. Instead of heading out to the polls, they voted via iPad tablet notebooks.

According to an article on McKnights Long-Term Care News & Assisted Living, election officials brought iPads and portable printers to the nursing homes and community senior centers. This allowed the state’s elderly and disabled constituents to vote in an election that replaced one of their state representatives.

Voting with the iPad gave those who are visually impaired the option to increase the ballot’s font size as well as adjust the screen color to enhance readability. The iPads could also read each candidate’s name and information about them to the voter. A “sip-and-puff” device used to control the iPad’s screen was beneficial for those with mobility difficulties.

The Pennsylvania Department of Aging recognizes November as National Family Caregiver Month.

According to the state agency, Pennsylvania has about 1.2 million unpaid caregivers, making it the fourth largest caregiver population in the country. These caregivers contribute more than $13,000 of free service every year the agency estimates and as the older population increases, more adults will assume the role of caregiver.

According to a 2009 National Alliance on Caregiving and AARP survey, 23 percent of those taking the survey who worked as caregivers for five or more years reported a decline in health.

November is National Alzheimer’s Disease Awareness Month. According to an acticle on CNN.com, about 60% of the nation’s 5 million Alzheimer’s patients will wander – a huge risk to many Alzheimer’s patients and their loved ones.

It may not be possible to keep an eye on your loved once 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. But we found that this article offered a few tips to help decrease the likelihood that an Alzheimer’s patient may wander.

Keep wandering top of mind: With family members are concerned with other aspects of the disease, such as leaving the stove on or asking the same questions over and over again, it’s easy to forget that wandering can be a risk.

According to a Pittsburgh television station investigating team, seven personal care homes across the state were shut down last year, while three others had their licenses revoked.

Target 11 investigator Rick Earle and photographer Tim Holoman interviewed Ron Melusky, the state director of Adult Residential Licensing in Harrisburg last month.

Melusky said there are 1,300 personal care homes housing almost 50,000 people across the state. He said the homes are inspected yearly.