nursing homes

Sgt. Levinson? Ken Instructs Lawyers at Nursing Home Boot Camp

June 19, 2015 by Levinson and Stefani Leave a Comment

Ken - AAJ Nursing Home — Partner Ken Levinson teaches lawyers at the AAJ Nursing Home Boot Camp

Ken, a drill sergeant? No way! But he is very active in the American Association for Justice, and was honored to be invited to the faculty of Nursing Home Boot Camp. The 3 day program held in Denver, CO, earlier this month was designed to have experienced lawyers like Ken share their stories and strategies on handling clients’ cases against nursing homes.

The nursing homes are highly regulated, and in many states, nursing homes are owned only by a few very large corporations. If you or a loved one are injured in a nursing home – or worse – because the nursing home provided substandard care or was negligent, you want to be able to protect your rights and hold the nursing home, its staff, and its ownership accountable. There is a complicated web of corporate entities and laws to go through in order to accomplish this goal, and having a skilled attorney familiar with how nursing homes operate – for example, how they are staffed, their management structure, and their record-keeping – is extremely important. There are also medical issues that are more common in nursing home patients – like bed sores, elopement (dementia patients wandering away), and injuries from falling while unsupervised.

Handling nursing home cases for people who have been hurt as a result of nursing home negligence is no small undertaking. Ken was happy to teach other trial lawyers how to better litigate nursing home cases and strongly advocate for their clients.

How to Choose the Right Nursing Home

March 2, 2015 by Levinson and Stefani Leave a Comment

Adults often find themselves in the unenviable position of making long-term decisions on behalf of their aging parents or other loved ones. And one of the more difficult decisions can be choosing if and when a family member should be cared for by strangers, essentially. Choosing the right nursing home is not an easy task, and it is not something that most people look forward to. But once you’ve reconciled with the idea that structured care is the best option for you and your family, the next step is gathering the facts and establishing trust with the people – and the company – ultimately responsible for providing, and ensuring, a good quality living arrangement for your loved one. Like most things in life, preparation is the key to success, anticipating the tiny bumps that you might encounter along the road.

In the grand scheme of things, it would seem the most daunting aspect of choosing the right home is less about the actual decision as it is the process of making it a reality. It’s especially difficult when one hears so frequently about the mismanaged homes, preventable accidents, nursing home staff negligence and doctor negligence that have led to lawsuits. Many people faced with making a nursing home decision for the first time don’t know much about the industry, facilities, and available care, and they might not know the right questions to ask or the right data to study. Thankfully, several resources provide helpful ways to make such a daunting decision a little more simple, providing you with details to help make the most informed decision possible.

Nursing Home Compare
This online resource, courtesy of the Federal Government, offers detailed information about every Medicare and Medicaid certified nursing home in the country, providing access to a host of databases that authenticate and/or detail things like internal ratings. Nursing Home Compare also provides its own downloadable 50-plus-page guide to choosing a nursing home. Learn more about payment methods, certifications, licenses, fees, and resident rights.

ProPublica
As a non-profit, this national newsroom keeps tabs on threats to public interests by providing articles and information on the things you might not read anywhere else. ProPublica describes itself as focusing on stories with a so-called “moral force,” producing journalism that “shines a light on exploitation of the weak by the strong.” ProPublica founded Nursing Home Inspect in 2012, a collection of data from the U.S. Centers for Medicare and Medicaid services. One app identifies which states have been subject to significant fines by regulators because of deficiencies. Shockingly, some fines run upwards of $40,000!

Eden Alternative
The Eden Alternatives maintains a philosophy that elder care is not a “one way street,” treating the process of care as more of a collaborative effort. “Education is the antidote to fear,” according to the organization’s consumer guide. This guiding principal perhaps sets Eden’s alternative above the rest, emphasizing transparency and education as two of the most important factors when choosing a residence. You can find consultation services, webinars, and a calendar listing of events with guest speakers, discussing a range of topics like community engagement and the improvement of a quality culture.

Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality
The AHRQ, a division of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, provides a number of helpful resources for your search. This includes information on Medicare and Medicaid services, national surveys related to nursing homes, and links to reports on nursing home trends from organizations like the National Citizens’ Coalition for Nursing Home Reform, one of which collects a range of data on nursing homes around the country based on required surveys.

Are Nursing Homes Inflating the Numbers?

February 18, 2015 by Levinson and Stefani Leave a Comment

Nursing home resident Edna Irvin became the source of controversy late last year. The 80-year-old Irvin, a guest of the Chenal Heights Health and Rehabilitation Center in Little Rock, Arkansas, was the featured anecdote in an eye opening-read from the Center for Public Integrity. The Center found widespread reporting discrepancies among nursing homes in the U.S., including the home where Irvin had been living.

Based on several accounts and an analysis of government resources, the CPI discovered a laundry list of inflated, self-reported staffing numbers, some of which had been recorded just weeks prior to federally mandated inspections. The article points out that Irvin was a victim of a flawed system.

Over the first few months since she began living at the residence, Irvin endured a series of mishaps and injuries, according to the article. She suffered a laceration to her head related to a fall and fought through a severe bowel obstruction. In a later medical report, a rehab nurse noted that Irvin had traces of bacteria in her intestine and did not receive appropriate care for the obstruction. A law firm, acting on behalf of Irvin, obtained the nurse’s documents for an impending lawsuit filed by Irvin’s daughter, Lisa Sanders.

Sanders eventually had her mother transferred to a new facility, only after learning disturbing details about the staff, the home’s hours of operation, and the method by which the home monitored its residents. She discovered some wildly inaccurate numbers, a shock that ultimately set the move and the lawsuit in motion.

Irvin’s story is not unusual. The Center for Public Integrity uncovered an all too common if not systemic problem that has plagued nursing homes for many years. The process of self-reported data has been widely criticized by government agencies and the public, not least for its lax standards and shoddy reporting. Almost 100 peer-reviewed, academic studies, according to the Center for Public Integrity, showed that the amount of care was most strongly connected to quality care; lower levels of care showed higher risk for injury and, in some cases, death. By skewing the numbers, homes are, inadvertently or not, perpetuating bad practice and misleading prospective residents about the care they should be receiving.

The Center for Public Integrity also pointed out that self-reported data has historically been a crucial metric for government agencies that rank homes based on staff numbers, a metric that often helps the public make consequential decisions on behalf of their loved ones. But relying on self-reported information comes with a price. Irvin paid the price, and now her case is in the hands of litigators.

Improvements have been made since 2010, resulting from a provision in the Affordable Care Act that requires many homes to change from a self-reporting method to a payroll-based method. The payroll-based system utilizes an electronic data collection system—practically standard in today’s digital world—that ensures more accurate tracking. But if anything, the report by the Center for Public Integrity reminds us that there’s much more to be done.

Jay Stefani Discusses Nursing Home Cases at the CBA

December 12, 2014 by Jay Stefani Leave a Comment

Jay Stefani speaks on Nursing Home Lawsuits — Jay Stefani Offers Tips to Lawyers About Nursing Home Cases

I was honored to speak at the Chicago Bar Association (CBA) recently about nursing home abuse cases. I enjoyed the opportunity to share tips, strategies, and experiences with the Tort Litigation Committee’s member lawyers.

Insurance companies and corporate defense lawyers work very hard to prevent nursing homes from being held responsible when their carelessness injures the elderly or disabled. Wrongdoing in a nursing home, whether by doctors, nurses, or staff, can cause immense pain for patients and families. And the well-funded corporations behind the nursing homes will be aggressive in their defense. This is why it’s so important to choose an experienced nursing home attorney if you or a loved one has been harmed. You and your family should have somebody you trust working for you, who knows the ins and outs of nursing home litigation.

Nursing Home Care: Five Things You Should Know

October 10, 2014 by Levinson and Stefani Leave a Comment

Courtesy of Integracp, Wikipedia Commons

Quality living has been the topic of debate lately in Illinois, where, according to Families for Better Care, Inc., a citizen advocacy group based in Tallahassee, Florida, nursing home care ranks one of the lowest of the low. For the second consecutive year Illinois has received a failing grade from Families for Better Care, dropping two spots in the national rankings from 42 in 2013 to 44 in 2014.

The Land of Lincoln scored failing or below average grades in 5 of 8 categories, placing lowest in direct care staffing hours per resident (47th), the percentage of facilities with deficiencies (44th), and the percentage of facilities with severe deficiencies (39th), according to the report.

“Illinois’s ranking shows that nursing homes continued to be riddled with problems,” said Families for Better Care executive director Brian Lee in a statement. “The state remains among the worst in hiring enough staff to care for residents.”

As Lee notes, the hiring of qualified workers appears to be one of many glaring problem of Illinois’s poor performance. Local lawmakers are making attempts to compensate for lack of staff and substandard facilities by adopting newer and more technology-based methods to improve its national standing. And one prospective law, with roots in Illinois, hopes to extend its reach nationwide. Below are five laws and prospective laws you should be aware of:

1.) Put a Registered Nurse in the Nursing Home Act
There are roughly 1,200 long-term care facilities in the state of Illinois, serving more than 100,000 residents. Those are dense numbers. Over the summer, Illinoi Rep. Jan Schakowsky introduced the “Put a Registered Nurse in the Nursing Home Act,” which would require nursing homes and skilled nursing facilities that receive Medicare and/or Medicaid reimbursement to have a direct-care Registered Nurse on duty 24 hours per day, 7 days per week.

2.) Video Cameras in Nursing Homes
The latest proposal from Illinois Attorney General Lisa Madigan, would allow video cameras and audio recording devices to be installed inside the rooms of residents, a measure that hopes to curb deficiencies and staff abuse by creating a more transparent environment. The proposal —with remnants of earlier bill that failed to muster bipartisan support in the past — hopes to be a game changer in the quest to protect resident’s rights and their safety.

3.) Illinois Department of Public Health Ombudsman Program
In August, Governor Pat Quinn signed a bill expanding the Ombudsman Program, which allows residents of long-term care facilities and their families to file grievances through an online portal at the Illinois Department of Health website. Starting January 1, 2015, older adults and persons with disabilities ages 18 to 59 who live in a community setting will receive the same advocacy services as people who reside in nursing homes.

4.) Pathways to Community Living Program
In Illinois, the Department of Healthcare and Family Services partners with the Department of Human Services, the Department on Aging, and the Illinois Housing Development Authority for the Pathways to Community Living Program, a subset of the Deficit Reduction Act of 2006. Under the Pathways initiative, the state has increased community services and rebalanced the state’s long term care systems by providing appropriate, person-centered services for individuals interested in transitioning from institutional settings to qualified home and community based settings.

5.) The Nursing Home Care Act
The Illinois General Assembly adopted the Nursing Home Care Act (NHCA) in 1979, a law that gives nursing home residents complete “power of attorney” should they choose to file suite against a home and/or owner, along with outlining several laws defining residents’ rights. This includes but is not limited to: 1.) The right to religious freedom. 2.) The right to refuse treatment. 3.) The right to be cared for by their own doctor under their own health insurance or expense.

Takeaways From Madigan’s Latest Proposal, Allowing Video Cameras In Nursing Homes

September 29, 2014 by Levinson and Stefani Leave a Comment

The state of Illinois is potentially going Big Brother on senior citizens.

In recent news, Illinois Attorney General Lisa Madigan announced a controversial new proposal that would allow video cameras and audio recording devices to be installed inside the rooms of nursing home residents. If passed, Illinois would join Washington, Oklahoma, Texas, New Mexico and Maryland as the only states to approve such a law.

This comes just two years after distressing news out of Oklahoma, where a nurse subjected a 96-year-old resident to extreme physical abuse. The woman’s family, fearing the worst after several warning signs, installed a hidden camera in her room, revealing graphic footage that ultimately confirmed their worst suspicions. The ensuing backlash prompted Oklahoma and other states to ensure the safety of residents by instituting more stringent protection laws, including the installation of video cameras as a means to prosecute.

At the heart of the matter is privacy. To what extent should a person be subjected, and or subject others, to undue levels of intrusion? It’s an endless debate, but as far as Illinois is concerned, it’s s debate worth having. The Federal government points out that one in four nursing homes in the United States are substandard, citing inadequate living arrangements and, in some cases, staff abuse. Officials estimate that Illinois alone receives 19,000 calls per year alleging abuse or neglect and responds to just 5,000.

A national study conducted in 2014 determined that Illinois ranked as one of the lowest states in the nation when it comes to nursing home functions; the state received a failing grade following inspection. Now, the proposal by Madigan would give family members greater access to the care their loved ones receive on a daily basis.

Administrators have taken issue with the statistics, as well as the proposed law, calling it “an excuse” for relatives to sue. Others, by contrast, are quick to point out mental acuity and deteriorating health issues like weight loss, dementia, and immobility, as primary reasons for wanting and needing the ability to monitor loved ones. In the past Illinois has tried to pass a similar law allowing for the installation of video cameras, only to have support falter.

Here are a few things you should know about the latest law proposal:

It’s a work-in-progress. Madigan’s office is in currently drafting language for the bill, a measure that state Senator Terry Link supports. Link had previously sponsored a bill in 2007 with similar intentions, though that bill failed to pass. Now, however, Link anticipates little opposition given a new stipulation, which would require residents and their families to pay for them. (Link’s bill put the expense burden squarely on the state, which drew considerable criticism and opposition.)

In a press conference, Attorney General Madigan made clear that the proposed law intends to better the quality of living for nursing home residents, not intrude upon them. “I’m not advocating for turning anyone’s personal life into a reality show,” she said candidly. Instead, the proposal aims to allow recordings from the devices to be used in court, which would also include penalties for anyone who tries to hamper or obstruct the devices.

While legal in five other states, the practice remains untested in the state of Illinois. The Health and Human Services Department found U.S. nursing homes are dangerous places to live, noting that 20 percent of patients are harmed to the point of needing medical care. Others died as a result of mistreatment. Video cameras may be a way to prevent such abuse, but the idea poses significant hurdles beyond the obvious. For one, written consent would be necessary the installation of certain devices would require written consent from both the resident and the roommate.
Madigan made mention of the fact that cameras have quickly become a ubiquitous part of every day life. The Chicago Sun-Times quoted Madigan as saying: “You go into a bar, you go into a restaurant, you get on the train, you’re in the grocery store, you’re in the pharmacy — everywhere you are right now there is a camera.” Everywhere may soon include nursing homes.