Among the issues confronting America is long-term care for frail, older persons and others with chronic conditions and functional limitations that limit their ability to care for themselves. Improving the Quality of Long-Term Care takes a comprehensive look at the quality of care and quality of life in long-term care, including nursing homes, home health agencies, residential care facilities, family members and a variety of others. This book describes the current state of long-term care, identifying problem areas and offering recommendations for federal and state policymakers. Who uses long-term care? How have the characteristics of this population changed over time? What paths do people follow in long term care? The committee provides the latest information on these and other key questions. This book explores strengths and limitations of available data and research literature especially for settings other than nursing homes, on methods to measure, oversee, and improve the quality of long-term care. The committee makes recommendations on setting and enforcing standards of care, strengthening the caregiving workforce, reimbursement issues, and expanding the knowledge base to guide organizational and individual caregivers in improving the quality of care.

As more people live longer, the need for quality long-term care for the elderly will increase dramatically. This volume examines the current system of nursing home regulations, and proposes an overhaul to better provide for those confined to such facilities. It determines the need for regulations, and concludes that the present regulatory system is inadequate, stating that what is needed is not more regulation, but better regulation. This long-anticipated study provides a wealth of useful background information, in-depth study, and discussion for nursing home administrators, students, and teachers in the health care field; professionals involved in caring for the elderly; and geriatric specialists.

"[The book] lists all the federal requirements that are evaluated by state surveyors during the annual survey visit to nursing homes and for complaint visits. The exhibit section contains forms used by surveyors to gather data during the survey visit. Visually, the format makes the regulations easy to read. If nursing home staff used the book to prepare for a survey, they would be well prepared." -Marcia Flesner, PhD, RN, MHCA University of Missouri-Columbia From Doody's Review Nursing homes are now the most highly regulated environments in the United States, in the service of maximizing the quality of each residentís life. This user-friendly guide has been updated to provide all of the requisite information needed by nursing home staff to prepare for a visit from federal surveyors. It provides the most current federal guidelines and the procedures used by federal surveyors in certifying facilities for participation in Medicare and Medicaid funding. It describes every aspect and service of a nursing home that is subject to inspection and includes the nearly 20% of new requirements established during the past three years, with an emphasis on the new Minimum Data Set 3.0. The guide not only presents federal requirements and explanatory guidelines but also explains how to best interpret these guidelines so nursing home staff can be optimally prepared for a survey visit. It reflects changes in regulations regarding end-of-life care, nasogastric tube regulations, and rights to establish advance directives. The guide also provides information straight from CMS's Internet-Only Manual. New Features of Eighth Edition: Describes how to best use the updated manual Focuses on Minimum Data Set 3.0 Explains clearly how to interpret the new requirements, 20% of which have been updated Presents new quality measures Includes new CMS forms Reflects changes in regulations regarding end-of-life care, nasogastric tube regulations, and rights to establish advance directives