Links

• Federal Nursing Home Reform Act from the Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act of 1987 (from the National Long Term Care Ombudsman Resource Center) – After more than 20 years, the Nursing Home Reform Act is still relied upon for protecting residents against abuse and neglect in long-term care facilities. This site explains the important federal standards that apply to nursing homes in every state. It also includes information about current issues such as the federal privacy rules for patients’ records, staffing shortages in nursing homes, elder abuse, and pain management.
  
  
• Medicare: Nursing Home Compare - This Medicare site provides detailed information about every Medicaid- and Medicare-certified nursing home in the country. The facilities are rated according to quality standards for comparison by consumers. The site also links to important information to consider when choosing a nursing home or alternative types of long term care.
  
  
• Nursing Home Watch List (from MemberoftheFamily.net) - Besides listing every nursing home in the United States, this site ranks nursing homes on the basis of quality of care issues based on data obtained from government reports.
  
  
• Nursing Homes: Addressing the Factors Underlying Understatement of Serious Care Problems Requires Sustained CMS and State Commitment - Critical report of federal and state evaluations of nursing homes. This December 2009 report by the U.S. Government Accountability Office (GAO), "Addressing the Factors Underlying Understatement of Serious Care Problems Requires Sustained CMS and State Commitment," criticizes state and federal officials for understating the seriousness of quality and safety issues in assessment reports. The GAO first highlighted these weaknesses and inconsistencies in a May 2008 report.
  
  
• Office of the Ombudsman for the Institutionalized Elderly - This site provides important information about New Jersey's Office of the Ombudsman, which investigates complaints from elder residents of long-term care facilities and their family members. The Ombudsman’s office is located in New Jersey’s Department of the Public Advocate and can also be reached by calling the Ombudsman 24-hour Complaint Hotline at 1-877-582-6995.