WORKFORCE

Historic workforce crisis in long term care industry

Workforce crisis in long term care shows the industry has lost more than 400,000 employees over the course of the pandemic, and the number of employees is at levels not seen since August 2007.

While hospitals, physicians’ offices, outpatient care centers and other health care facilities have nearly reached or surpassed pre-pandemic staffing levels, long term care facilities are still experiencing substantial job losses. Read more >>

Turnover can impact the defense of a case. Excelas, LLC recommends a Provider of Care report be created early in the claims and litigation life cycle in order to identify, contact, and interview key caregivers. Learn how this unique report serves multiple functions in the short video below.

AHCA/NCAL

When inspected during pandemic, most nursing homes deficiency-free

“Nursing Home Quality Improvement During the COVID-19 Pandemic,” released in March found that despite the extreme challenges brought by COVID-19, nursing home care providers held steady in a number of quantifiable areas. This included spending more time with residents and continuing to make clinical advancements, according to the American Health Care Association and National Center for Assisted Living.

Among the organization’s findings, based on federal data:
– In more than 110,000 inspections that focused on infection control, 72% conducted from 2020-2022 were deficiency-free.
– Long-stay residents had 15% fewer infections, 8% fewer urinary tract infections and 12% less catheter use. Short-stay residents, meanwhile, experienced an 8% increase in functional improvements overall.
– During the first nine months of 2020, the number of nurse staff hours per resident day remained steady or increased slightly.

PREP ACT

Unraveling PREP Act immunity for providers

Nursing home providers seeking protection from lawsuits and financial liability related to the care they’ve provided during the pandemic are largely dependent on the federal PREP Act, especially now that many state shield laws are expiring. But a series of legal challenges has led to a back-and-forth on the act’s ability to shield operators from all claims. That has also created jurisdictional tussles that may ultimately be decided by the Supreme Court.

In this episode, attorney Drew Graham and national COVID-19 claims coordinator Olga Kats-Chalfant discuss the challenges and the act’s potential fate. With some 700 cases hanging in the balance, Kats-Chalfant says the few that have been decided so far are “just a drop in the bucket.” Who decides the rest — and where — will be an important development for providers to watch, Graham tells moderator Kimberly Marselas.

Excelas’ PREP Act Updates list summaries of relevant articles and selected court decisions, as well as additional recent court decisions, with hyperlinks for reference. The attached update is the most recent, including listings through April 2022.