COMMENT3

The impact of Nursing Home Transparency-Nursing home compare Medicare Website Section 6103 has impacted my current practice by making patients more aware of what kind of services and environment they will be living in.  This allows the patient or family to make an informed decision before being placed.  When the consumer has the power to choose the place to receive care the corporations owning the facilities are motivated to invest time and money in areas that provide direct patient care. In my practice, this means that my care to the patient will be rated by quality and should motivate the corporation I work for to concentrate efforts on improvements to the nursing staff.  Even with this comparison in place, the industry of skilled and long-term care has been slow to respond to the provisions.  It still seems that corporate-owned facilities fail to concentrate on nursing which is the main area that consumers are dependent on when admitted to this environment.  The website atwww.medicate.gov is also hard to access, slow to show information and information are hard to understand for those who do not have a medical background or experience with this form of care. Quality and staffing levels are self-reported by the facility making it difficult to find accurate information.  In the future, the system could be streamlined and have a large impact on patient care, staffing levels and the hourly wages of nurses committed to this care area. I have noticed a greater respect from acute care nursing professionals for nurses working in skilled, long-term and home health areas.  I believe this is a direct effect of the PPACA. 
Nursing home transparency-whistleblower protection section 6105 requires that states have a complaint resolution process. This provides both an employee or a patient/family member to contact the state with concerns about the quality of care or services provided without fear of retaliation from the facility.  This has impacted my practice in positive ways by requiring a investigation into complaints.  After an investigation, it could be determined that the concern was a misunderstanding of policy but it can also lead to changes how the workflow is distributed or led to increased patient safety through increased focus on potential safety risks.
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