The booming industry of long-term care hospitals has higher rates of violations and less oversight than traditional medical facilities, according to a report in The New York Times.
New York City nursing home abuse and neglect lawyers and New York medical malpractice attorneys represent patients and their families against negligent hospitals, nursing homes or other medical facilities.
More than 400 long-term acute care hospitals have opened up around the country in the last 25 years. Few have staff physicians and most are owned by large for-profit companies, according to The Times investigation. Such facilities were cited for violations up to four-times more frequently than regular hospitals and had more incidences of bedsores and infections.
Such long-term care facilities now treat 200,000 patients a year at a projected cost of $4.8 billion. Unlike specialized hospitals, such as children's hospital or mental health facilities, long-term care hospitals offer no specialized care and are defined only by the length of patient stays. Most are smaller than regular hospitals, averaging about 60 beds.
However, many patients who require such lengthy hospital stays are very sick, and need complex treatments, including dialysis and ventilator care.
The Times reported that such facilities are not closely monitored by Medicare, which does not penalize them financially for failing to submit quality data. Supporters content such facilities fill a crucial void for patients not sick enough for regular hospitals but too sick for nursing home or at-home care.
Opponents are especially concerned about the care provided by such for-profit companies, which have higher profit margins and spend less on patients, according to Congressional research.
One operator of long-term care facilities examined by the Times provided care for 42,000 patients and employed 23,000 people last year. In addition to a higher rate of violations, the average stay of 24 days at the company's facilities fell just under the 25-day stay for which maximum Medicare reimbursement was available.
Similar challenges face the nursing home industry, where more than half of the nation's 17,000 nursing home facilities are operated by large corporations and two-thirds are for-profit businesses, according to the American Health Care Association.
