Nursing Home Quality

“There was a recent study that came out in the Indianapolis Star. They did a pretty comprehensive study of the nursing homes in the state of Indiana and they found out that Indiana ranks 51st out of the 50 states. You might say, “Well how did we get to 51st?” They also counted the District of Columbia. But Indiana ranks 51st lowest in the quality of nursing homes in the United States. So obviously this was a very troubling study for the legislators and the nursing regulators in Indianapolis when they learned that we ranked dead last in the quality of nursing homes. They studies a lot of factors particularly the amount of man hours that were spent on each patient by CNAs and Nursing Assistants. They found once again that we rank dead last in the United States. They found that the for profit nursing homes were lower in quality than the not for profits as well so that was another result of the study. What I thought that I would suggest today are some things that our viewers can do if you find yourself in a situation with a loved one who you don’t feel is receiving appropriate care. There are some things that you can do, most notably there is an Ombudsman program in the state of Indiana where you can contact a person in our area that is responsible for responding to complaints in nursing homes and if you want to contact once again my office through the website, I will give you all that information for the Ombudsman. The other thing that your gonna wanna do if you have a loved one that’s about to go in a nursing home, I think you’re really gonna wanna do some research to the term “What is the best nursing home to place your loved one in” and there are some really good websites out there right now, most notably there’s a website called “Nursing Home Compare” that will give you great information comparing one nursing home, the quality factors of one nursing home versus another. Also, the Medicare website has some good information where it now gives nursing homes an actual grade, A-B-C-D and so on. So if you’re gonna put your loved one in a nursing home, and you’re about to make that decision, your really need to do your home work and do your research before you select a facility.”