Safety

As part of the continuing efforts under President Biden’s initiative to improve nursing home transparency, safety and quality, and accountability, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services announced new actions to reduce the inappropriate use of antipsychotic medications and to bring greater transparency about nursing home citations to families. Beginning this month, CMS will conduct targeted, off-site audits to determine whether nursing homes are accurately assessing and coding individuals with a schizophrenia diagnosis.

President Biden has announced a set of reforms, developed and implemented through the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), to improve the safety and quality of nursing home care. The reforms are intended to ensure the following: Every nursing home provides a sufficient number of staff who are adequately trained to provide high-quality care; Poorly performing nursing homes are held accountable for improper and unsafe care and immediately improve their services or are cut off from taxpayer dollars; and The public has better information about nursing home conditions so that they can find the best available options.

The Administration for Community Living (ACL), joined the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) Office of Inspector General (OIG) and the HHS Office of Civil Rights to produce a report on ensuring beneficiary health and safety in group homes through state implementation of comprehensive compliance oversight. This report serves as a resource for states to use as a part of efforts to ensure that all group homes are safe and healthy places for people with disabilities.