In just about every installment of this column, I tell you about lawsuits and enforcement actions that have involved long-term care facilities and practitioners – and what they might mean you in your professional life.

This month, let’s look at legal and regulatory actions that haven’t happened yet but are now predictable because the Office of Inspector... »

Congress included the Elder Justice Act in the historic Affordable Care Act last year. As a result, the health reform law requires long-term care facilities to report suspected crimes against residents more quickly and thoroughly than ever before. The law states that a facility and any owner, operator, employee, manager, agent, or contractor who reasonably... »

Last May, the Health and Human Services Office of Inspector General released a report about the use of atypical antipsychotic medications in nursing homes. While the OIG report focused on invalid Medicare-payment claims, a federal Departmental Appeals Board case and two recent medical malpractice complaints demonstrate how the improper prescription of... »

Violations of nursing standards of care can result in actions against individuals, survey deficiencies, civil money penalties for long-term care facilities, and a variety of other possible negative outcomes. Two cases demonstrate how nurses are in personal jeopardy.

In 2005, a Delaware court upheld a finding that the state’s nursing standard of care... »

February was a busy month for mug shot photographers and health professionals posing for them. The number of providers and the amounts of money involved in charges of Medicare and Medicaid fraud were staggering.

On Feb. 3, the Health and Human Ser­vices Office of Inspector General issued its first “Top 10 Most Wanted” fugitives in health care. Among... »

Most states have mandatory staffing ratios or other regulations intended to ensure that an adequate number of skilled personnel are on hand to provide quality nursing home care. Federal regulations are less specific, providing only that Medicare-certified nursing facilities “must provide services by sufficient numbers of … personnel on a... »

One of the most frequently cited noncompliance deficiencies is F-tag 323, which requires a nursing facility to ensure that the resident environment remains as free of accident hazards as is possible and that each resident receive adequate supervision and assistive devices to prevent accidents. Elopements endanger residents and nursing homes in both these... »