Nursing Home Transparency and Improvement Act of 2008

Bill: 110-s-2641
Sponsor: Sen. Grassley, Chuck [R-IA]
Introduced: 2008-02-14 in the Senate
Policy area: Health
Subjects: Accreditation (Medical care)
Brain diseases
Commerce
Congress
Congressional investigations
Congressional reporting requirements
Crime and Law Enforcement
Elder abuse
Employee training
Fines (Penalties)
Government Operations and Politics
Government paperwork
Government publicity
Health care industry
Health surveys
Internet
Labor and Employment
Law
Long-term care
Medicaid
Medicare
Nurses
Nursing
Nursing homes
Ombudsman
Paramedical personnel
Patients' rights
Quality of care
Science, Technology, Communications
Social Welfare
Supervisors
Wages
Web sites

Summary:
action_date: 2008-02-14
text: 
Nursing Home Transparency and Improvement Act of 2008 - Amends titles XVIII (Medicare) and XIX (Medicaid) of the Social Security Act to direct skilled nursing facilities (SNFs) and nursing facilities to make available, upon request, ownership and affiliated parties information to the Secretary of Health and Human Services and other responsible parties.
 
Outlines accountability requirements for such institutions.
 
Requires specified additional information to appear on the Department of Health and Human Services Nursing Home Compare Website.
 
Requires SNFs to separately report expenditures for wages and benefits for different levels of nursing staff.
 
Directs the Secretary to develop a standardized form for use by a resident (or a person acting on the resident's behalf) in filing a complaint about a SNF with a state survey and certification agency or long-term care ombudsman program. Requires a state to establish a complaint resolution process. 
 
Directs the Secretary to establish a program for SNFs to report staffing information based on payroll data.
 
Increases certain civil monetary penalties for SNF violations.
 
Requires the Comptroller General to study and report to Congress on: (1) the financial status, resident care, and performance of SNFs and nursing facilities in the Special Focus Facility (or a successor) program of the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services relative to a comparable sample of facilities outside such program; and (2) best practices for, and barriers to, the appointment of temporary management for SNFs with a record of poor care.
 
Directs the Secretary to provide for an national independent monitoring program to oversee interstate and large intrastate chains of SNFs.
 
Requires a SNF administrator to notify the Secretary and other responsible parties of an impending closure of the facility. 
 
Directs the Secretary to conduct demonstration projects on culture change and use of information technology in SNFs and nursing facilities.
 
Provides for dementia management training and patient abuse prevention training. 
 
Directs the Secretary to study and report to Congress on training for certified nurse aides and supervisory staff of SNFs and nursing facilities.


Legislative actions:
action_date: 2008-02-14
text: Read twice and referred to the Committee on Finance.
action_date: 2008-02-14
text: Sponsor introductory remarks on measure. (CR S1058-1059)
action_date: 2008-02-14
text: Introduced in Senate