We at Basic American Comfort would like to bring to you the most interesting news in long-term care this week.

Satisfaction among nursing home consumers, employees continues to rise, survey finds

McKnight’s Long-Term Care News & AssistedLiving. May 28, 2009

According to a survey conducted by My InnerView, 85 percent of skilled nursing facility customers ranked satisfaction levels as “excellent” or “good,” and 66 percent of facility employees ranked their facility as an “excellent” or “good” place to work. The results of the survey are comprised of responses from more than 54,000 residents, 147,000 family members of residents, and 223,000 employees from 5,075 facilities nationwide. A copy of the complete “2008 National Survey of Consumer and Workforce Satisfaction in Nursing Homes” may be downloaded from:

www.myinnerview.com.

 

Association disputes findings in recent survey on CNAs in long-term care

McKnight’s Long-Term Care News & AssistedLiving. May 28, 2009

A recent government-issued survey of certified long-term care assistants working in long-term care settings cited the rate of workplace injuries at 59 percent. Representatives of the American Health Care Association disagree with these findings, saying the results were based on incomplete and outdated information. Bruce Yarwood, president and CEO of AHCA, said in a statement, “The conclusions of the study, particularly the National Nursing Assistant Survey (NNAS) results on Certified Nursing Assistants (CNA) injuries and wages, are in direct contradiction with published federal data,” and continued to note that data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) had been overlooked.

 

Insurers’ Role Key to Health System Overhaul, CBO Says

By Lori Montgomery. Washington Post. May 28, 2009

CBO director, Douglas Elmdorf recently blogged about the role of insurers in a health system overhaul, writing, “In CBO’s view, the key consideration is whether a proposal would be making health insurance an essentially governmental program, tightly controlled by the federal government with little choice available to those who offer and buy health insurance — or whether the system would provide significant flexibility in terms of the types, prices and number of private-sector sellers of insurance available to people. The former — a governmental program — belongs in the federal budget (including all premiums paid by individuals and firms to private insurers), but the latter — a largely private-sector system — does not.”

 

Massachusetts, Model for Universal Health Care, Sees Ups and Downs in Policy

By Kevin Sack. New York Times. May 28, 2009

A recent study highlights both the positive and negative aspects of Massachusetts’ almost universal health care system. Though there were gains in the percentage of residents reporting an availability of a steady source of health care in 2008, an annual survey showed increasing numbers of state residents who said they could not afford treatments and who had concerns over the reduced availability of primary care physicians. Researchers, Sharon K. Long and Paul B. Masi of the Urban Institute wrote, “Although major expansions in coverage can be achieved without addressing health care costs, cost pressures have the potential to undermine the gains.”

 

Health bill would fix what’s broken

By Edward M. Kennedy. Boston Globe. May 28, 2009

The five key elements of a health bill proposed by Edward M. Kennedy include:

• More health insurance choices for Americans. The ability to keep the health insurance you already have or try new, more affordable options. Increase in access to help finding the policy that best fits your needs, by phone, in person or on the internet.
• Reduce costs with more efforts to reduce fraud and abuse, cut red tape and publicize the most effective therapies and treatments for medical conditions.
• Emphasis on prevention.
• Increase programs to help the elderly stay at home instead of in nursing homes.
• Investment in the training of doctors, nurses and other health care professionals to insure a strong, efficient workforce that puts more emphasis on prevention and primary care.

 

UnitedHealth Outlines $540B In US Govt Health-Care Savings

By Patrick Yoest. Wall Street Journal. May 28, 2009

UnitedHealth issued a report outlining fifteen ways the federal government could cut a total of $540 billion in future medical costs over the next decade. One of the primary suggestions is the placement of nurse practitioners in skilled nursing facilities to oversee post-acute hospital care. Just by reducing re-hospitalizations, UnitedHealth predicts a savings of $165.5 billion. Other suggestions target the way Medicare operates and would reduce premiums for patients who use doctors with track records of better patient outcomes and lower costs.

 

Study: Insured pay ‘hidden tax’ for uninsured health care

By Seung Min Kim, USA TODAY. May 28, 2009

To compensate for the country’s growing numbers of uninsured and $42.7 billion in unpaid health expenses, U.S. families and employers paid an average of $1,017 in extra health care premiums last year, according to a study being released today.

 

Culver signs bill that halts many nursing home fines

By Clark Kauffman. Des Moines Register. May 28, 2009

A new bill signed into law by Iowa Gov. Chet Culver will eliminate fines for dozens of violations provided that the skilled nursing facilities identify and correct the problems on their own. A few of the self-identified violations that will be exempt from fines include; insufficient staffing, failure to meet nutritional needs of residents, failure to provide sufficient dental care, failure to have a qualified nurse on duty, and so on. To view this article, please see:

 

 Nursing homes may get ailing inmates

Alan Johnson, The Columbus Dispatch, May 28, 2009

Terminally ill or medically incapacitated prison inmates may be placed in skilled nursing facilities, according to Michael Randle, the assistant director of the Ohio Department of Rehabilitation and Correction. The current plan is to place between 20 and 40 inmates statewide. Ohio Health Care Association head, Peter Van Runkle said, “We would have to be careful about it, what the person did and what they’re capable of doing,” he explained. “We serve a lot of different kinds of people, some of them with behavior problems. That’s the nature of our business. But we have to take a lot of care with the people we admit.”

 

Arcuri promotes fire safety, ID theft measures to seniors

Rome Sentinel (NY). May 28, 2009

Rep. Michael A. Arcuri told seniors at the Ava Dorfman Center that he is working to have measures passed through Congress that would help prevent identity theft and provide federal funding to skilled nursing, assisted living facilities and hospices to upgrade fire safety measures.

 

 Kindergarten in a nursing home brings young and old happily together

By Laura Bauer, McClatchy Newspapers. Deseret News. May 26, 2009

What happens when you place a class of kindergarteners in a skilled nursing facility for an entire school year? According to those at Windsor Place in Coffeyville, Kansas, miracles happen. Last year Monte Coffman, the executive director of Windsor House, pushed for the age-to-age program to come to his facility. The synergy between the two (generations) has exceeded all of our expectations,” said Coffman.

 

Compression Stockings Offer Little Benefit After Stroke

Risk of blood clots not affected by their use, new research shows

HealthDay News. May 27, 2009

“Compression stockings are used in the majority of stroke units. In this study, we have shown conclusively that compression stockings do not work for stroke patients. National guidelines need to be revised and we need further research to establish effective treatments in this important group of patients,” said study author Martin Dennis, of the University of Edinburgh in Scotland, in a news release.

 

Sleepovers open architects’ eyes on nursing home design

By Bob Moos. Dallas Morning News. May 28, 2009

Dallas senior living community architect David Dillard requires all the senior living architects at his firm to spend a night at a facility, experiencing what the residents experience. “It gives you a new respect for the residents,” he explained. “Living with them deepens your passion for your work, and it opens your eyes to some practical ways to improve a building’s design.”

 

More Than 650,000 Cancer Deaths Avoided

Decline in Cancer Death Rate Means 650,400 Fewer Cancer Deaths Between 1991-1992 and 2005

By Miranda Hitti. WebMD Health News. May 27, 2009

The American Cancer Society’s chief executive officer, John R. Seffrin, PhD said in a news release, “A drop of 1% or 2% per year in the cancer mortality rate may sound small, but as this report shows, that adds up. Because the rate continues to drop, it means that in recent years, about 100,000 people each year who would have died if cancer death rates had not declined are living to celebrate another birthday. That is undeniable evidence of the lifesaving progress that we as a country must dedicate ourselves to continuing.”