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Reporting gaps for nursing home abuse

On Behalf of | Jul 22, 2019 | Serious Injuries |

Most people in Ohio have either faced the challenge of caring for an aging relative or know someone who has. In many situations, the level of care required necessitates that a person be moved to a nursing home. This decision is rarely made without a lot of deliberation and even hesitation, in part because of concerns that a person could be abused or neglected in the very facility that is supposed to care for them. 

CNN provided details on two recent reports that sadly suggest the number of abuse cases in nursing homes that are reported are only a fraction of the ones that actually take place. The fact of the matter is that the real problem is likely more widespread than reporting numbers would suggest.

A review of almost 35,000 Medicare claims between January 2015 and June 2017 found that close to 89% could have involved some form of abuse. In another report, the Department of Health and Human Services’ Office of the Inspector General estimated that as many as 20% of all visits to an emergency room by a nursing home patient likely involved abuse. The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services agreed with the OIG’s assessment that abuse cases are severely under-reported and that better access to data is required.

If you would like to learn more about the various things that could be signs of potential abuse or neglect of an elderly person in a nursing home, please feel free to visit the elder abuse and neglect page of our Ohio personal injury website.

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