Quality of care issues continue to plague the U.S. nursing home industry, with many nursing homes being cited repeatedly for violations that may put residents at serious risk, according to a report released by the Center for Consumer Health Choices at Consumers Union.
Beginning in 2000, the Center for Consumer Health Choices published an annual Nursing Home Watch List, which identifies approximately 10 percent of nursing homes in each state whose inspection reports Consumers Union judged to raise concerns about the quality of resident care. The list was published again in 2001 and 2002, providing the opportunity to examine trends in the quality of nursing home care.
In the latest Nursing Home Watch List published in 2002, almost 17 percent of 1,709 nursing homes remain on the watch list. Nearly seven percent of those facilities were cited for an “immediate jeopardy” deficiency that places residents at immediate risk for being seriously harmed. Two hundred ninety (290) facilities have been on all three watch lists, raising concerns that state and federal oversight is failing to improve the quality of care that residents receive throughout the country.