First few Article Sentences
Last month, the Office of Inspector General (“OIG”) published a report entitled, “Nursing Facilities’ Compliance with Federal Regulations for Reporting Allegations of Abuse or Neglect.” The report’s purpose was to determine the extent to which nursing facilities reported allegations of abuse, as well as the extent to which such allegations were reported correctly. According to the report, in 2012, 85% of the nation’s nursing homes reported almost 150,000 incidents of abuse or neglect. The OIG found that 53% of the incidents were correctly reported; that 61% of nursing facilities maintained documentation supporting compliance with the reporting requirements; and that 76% maintained appropriate policies and procedures for reporting allegations and investigation results. The OIG concluded: “It is both required and expected that nursing facilities will report any and all allegations of abuse and neglect to ensure resident safety.” The OIG then recommended that the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (“CMS”) reissue guidance clearly describing the reporting requirements and “reiterate in its guidance that all allegations of abuse or neglect must be reported to the State survey agency, as required by Federal law.”