As the population of America continues to age, more and more questions get posed about the safety and sustainability of elderly care facilities.
Recently, CMS carried on part of a sweeping movement of reforms directed at nursing homes in an attempt to increase their safety and decrease the dangers and risks associated with them.
CMS to carry out a new study
McKnights discusses the issue of a lack of safety in nursing homes. Many of these issues stem from staffing problems. Specifically, staff may not match certain requirements expected to maintain a basic level of care. On top of that, many nursing homes are understaffed, with the staff they do have ending up overworked to compensate.
In order to help fix these issues, CMS intends to carry out a new study. With this, they will find what types of staffing nursing homes need, along with the level of staffing necessary to ensure that all residents receive quality care. They will then propose rules based on these findings, set for release in a year’s time.
What does CMS plan?
This serves as one part of four initiatives aimed at improving the life quality of the elderly in the country. Biden will also call on Congress to give CMS a 25 percent budget increase of $500 million for surveys.
This plan also aims to promote single-occupancy rooms, reducing resident room crowding in general and discouraging the system which currently allows for three or more residents per room.
They also intend to focus on “problematic diagnoses”, attempting to bring down the overall inappropriate usage of anti-psychotic medication as a way to keep residents docile and quiet. Together, these initiatives will create a safer and more sustainable living environment for the aging population.