Source: Health Policy Institute of Ohio
A new federal report calls for wholesale changes to the nursing home industry (Source: “Nursing Home Care, Funding System Need Overhaul, Report Says,” Associated Press, April 6, 2022).
The 605-page report, released by the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine, found that nursing home residents are subjected to ineffective care and poor staffing, while facility finances are shrouded in secrecy and regulatory lapses go unenforced. The authors of the report insist that it could be an impetus to address issues that have gotten little more than lip service for decades but have moved into the spotlight during the COVID-19 pandemic.
“The public is so concerned about the quality of care, that most people really fear their family having to be in a nursing home,” said Betty Ferrell, a nurse who chaired the report committee. “We’re very optimistic that our government officials will respond to what has really been a travesty.”
The other travesty is the paucity of new physicians willing to provide LTC services to their patients/community. Lack of interest, low payments and the overall shortage of primary care physicians has led more and more Nursing Facilities to rely on large outside groups primarily staffed by APP’s to follow LTC patients.
“Everyone deserves a family physician” and I believe that includes people ill enough to be in a nursing facility.