The results of a study that were published in 2023 that investigated the question, “To what extent are nursing home characteristics associated with reporting rates of major injury falls and pressure ulcers on the Nursing Home Care Compare (NHCC) website?” that involved 13, 179 nursing homes found: “underreporting of major injury falls and pressure ulcers to the NHCC website was widespread across nursing homes and was associated with few facility characteristics other than racial and ethnic composition. Nursing homes with more White residents had high reporting rates for major injury falls, whereas facilities with more Black residents had higher reporting rates for pressure ulcers.”
The study used hospitalization data for all Medicare fee-for-service beneficiaries between January 1, 2011 and December 31, 2017. The sample included 13,179 nursing homes where 131,000 residents had major injury fall or pressure ulcer hospitalizations. There were 98,669 major injury fall hospitalizations, of which 60.0% were reported, and 39,894 stage 3 or 4 pressure ulcer hospitalizations, of which 67.7% were reported. Of the 13,179 nursing homes included in the study, 12 ,668 had at least one major injury fall hospitalization among long-stay residents, 9,234 had at least one pressure ulcer hospitalization among long-stay residents, and 9,954 had at least one pressure ulcer hospitalization among short-stay residents.
The study found that 69.9% and 71.7% of nursing homes reported rates less than 80% for major injury fall and pressure ulcer hospitalizations, respectively. Lower reporting rates were associated with few facility characteristics other than racial and ethnic composition. Nursing homes with high versus low fall reporting rates had significantly more White residents (86.9% vs 73.3%), and nursing homes with high vs low pressure ulcer reporting rates had significantly fewer White residents (69.7% vs 74.9%). Nursing homes with more White residents had higher reporting rates for major injury falls and lower reporting rates for pressure ulcers.
The study concluded: “The findings of this study have policy implications for the current efforts to improve nursing home quality. Underreporting of clinical events to CMS was widespread during the study period. Although CMS appears to recognize this situation, as evidenced by the lower weighting of quality measures in the ratings, the measures remain on public display. In other words, the quality measures are in limbo, but the public may be using these measures to make important life decisions. One approach to improving accuracy would be to use more objective data sources such as claims data, as CMS is increasingly doing. Even with alternative data sources, the study found that interpretation of quality measures needs to consider the racial and ethnic composition of nursing homes, which may affect both the prevalence of major injury falls and pressure ulcers and the accuracy of reporting.”
If you or a loved one suffered injuries (or worse) while a resident of a nursing home in the United States due to a nursing home fall, nursing home neglect, nursing home negligence, nursing home abuse, nursing home understaffing, nursing home pressure ulcer (bedsore), or the nursing home failing to properly care for a vulnerable adult, you should promptly find a nursing home injury lawyer in your state who may investigate your nursing home negligence claim for you and file a nursing home claim on your behalf or behalf of your loved one, if appropriate.
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