HHS Proposes To Improve Care And Safety For Nursing Homes Residents

A proposal announced Tuesday at the White House Conference on Aging would make major changes to improve the care and safety of the nearly 1.5 million residents in the more than 15,000 long-term care facilities or nursing homes that participate in the Medicare and Medicaid programs.

If finalized, unnecessary hospital readmissions and infections would be reduced, quality care increased, and safety measures strengthened for the more than one million residents in these facilities.

“This proposal is just one part of the administration’s overall commitment to transform our health system to deliver better quality care and spend our health care dollars in a smarter way,” said HHS Secretary Sylvia Burwell.

Many of the proposals build on improvements that nursing homes have already made since 1991, the last time these conditions of participation were comprehensively updated. This rule would also use practices for resident care to all facilities that participate in Medicare or Medicaid and implement a number of important safeguards that have been identified by patient advocates and other stakeholders, and include additional protections required by the Affordable Care Act.

The recommended reforms are expected to be published in proposed rule CMS-3260-P, in the July 16, 2015 Federal Register here.