Change is in the wind for nursing home industry

      The nursing home industry is one of the most regulated businesses in the nation. Their operation has become so regimented to control risks and costs that buildings look alike and virtually every decision is made for residents, from when to get up to what to eat.

   The regulations, although well-meaning, have combined with outdated payment system, to stifle innovation. There is little incentive to raise quality above minimum standards.

   Today, too many nursing homes offer a passionless, hospital-like service built for efficiency. It may have made sense decades ago, but now turns off people, struggles with high employee turnover and continues to experience quality problems.

   Against this backdrop, reformers in recent years have pushed for a radical rethinking of the long-term-care system known as "culture change."

   A smattering of nursing homes around the country, including Buffalo, have adopted a few aspects of the movement. Now, advocates in Western New York want to turn culture change into a regionwide initiative, making this community the first in the U.S. to attempt a transformation in elder care on a large scale.

-- Henry L. Davis

Comments

[Stevo Baich]

SEA????????????

Also, there were two November 19ths this week.

[Michael]

This awareness and change is commendable, and it is long overdue. I do question the source of funds for the care outlined where choice and schedule are in the residents' hands. Are the examples in the article supported by medicaid? Are these private pay and long term care insurance patients? Are medicaid patients accepted into these facilities? Will care continue like this if these private pay patients transition to medicaid? Do these facilities participate in a waiver program of some sort?

[Don H]

In the past, nursing homes have been little more than warehouses for old sick people, places to store them until they die.

[Bob Meiss]

Person centered care is a change in philosophy and approach. All residents benefit from a transformed culture regardless of who is paying the bills.
At Beechwood the cost to provide care in a household setting is the same as it is in the traditional institutional model of care.
Making changes to the building is not essential to transforming culture, but we felt we could advance this model of care even further by doing so. As such, we obtained approval from the Department of Health which in turn allows the medicaid program to reimburse us for the cost of capital in proportion to the percent of medicaid residents we care for.
Since we only have seven households in our facility not eveyone is able to live in one at this time. We are planning to add nine more over the course of the next few years. Seniority and not payor source determines which residents live in a household.

[DSC]

At one time 930am was an ejoyable station to listen to but lately with all their negative opinions- starting
with Tom Baurele, Sandy Beach and Rush Limbaugh. I no longer wish to listen to all their retoric. Their opinions are all that count - otherwise you get cut-off.

[MaryEllen]

I agree with comments made by DC regarding WBEN radio. Why do the producers allow these talk show hosts to belittle others who call and disagree with their opinions? If they don't agree with the talk show host, they are immediately cut off. I find it offensive that they continue to attempt listeners to their line of thinking. I guess I am one of the liberals that they do not want to express their views. The advertisers on these shows should be ashamed for supporting them...

[MaryEllen]

I think its about time the Nursing homes and Assistant Living homes are exposed. I mean investigate the real issues not just the things they want families and visitors to see. Check the nursing care and meals. Much of the quality, especially the meats they are served, leaves much to be desired. But then if the residents are hungry they will eat anything put in front of them.

[aware]

Here are several problems associated with nursing home care:
---how extremely difficult it is to find good people who are willing to work in them because it's very hard, backbreaking work for relatively little pay,
---often dealing with unrealistic families who now treat the nursing home caregivers as "the enemy" and fail to 'see" that there are and will never be, more than a certain number of caregivers for all the residents therefore, not every patient gets to be first, ( of course there is always the option of taking their family member back home and providing the care themselves which never happens because it is SO HARD TO DO),
--- how much money is being paid to a nursing home to care for all the indigent patients(with the expectation of mercedes benz care on a volkswagon payment plan),
----the unrealistic regulations mandated by the state without the money to pay for them,
---the simple fact that few people in our society have the willingness ( takes a lot of adjustment to care for a loved one at home), interest, or time, to take care of their family member themselves, yet they continue to expect and demand that someone else do for them, what they are unwilling to do for their own loved ones.
-- I have always marveled at the complaints made by family members yet they rarely bother to lift a finger to help and why don't they? Because they think it's not their job--just like so many millions of other americans.
---It's not my job...