Ask the legal expert: Can CMS increase financial penalties on nursing homes?
By
Norris Cunningham
Apr 01, 2022
Q: I read that the Biden Administration is seeking to increase financial penalties on nursing homes to catastrophic amounts. Can CMS really do this?
Ask the legal expert: Can we go after this contractor if the family wants to sue us or regulators want...
By
John Durso
Jul 01, 2021
A contractor did some shoddy work installing flooring that we didn’t catch right away and a patient wound up falling and injuring herself. Can we go after this contractor if the family wants to sue us...
Ask the legal expert: Can we limit disclosures that breach our privacy policy?
By
John Durso
Sep 01, 2020
We tell our employees that they may not speak to the media about our infection rates (including COVID-19 rates) or other caregiving or sensitive matters. This would include disclosing health information...
Ask the legal expert: Are we liable for any penalties or wrongdoing after some resident images appeared...
By
John Durso
Dec 05, 2019
We had a community event, a July 4 ice cream social, on our grounds and the public was invited. A newspaper came and photographed a bunch of stuff, including some residents. Good public relations, right?...
Ask the legal expert about … employees’ social media choices
By
John Durso
Jan 08, 2018
One of our employees has public photos on Facebook where he’s in drag, and a board member complained. How should we tackle employees doing potentially embarrassing things away from work, yet in a...
Ask the Legal Expert about … telemedicine
By
John Durso
Oct 06, 2017
What are your thoughts on the rising attention given to telemedicine? Are we more at risk, using clinicians miles away and viewing resident conditions and records off-site? What precautions or pre-conditions...
Ask the Legal Expert about … 24/7 visitor policies
By
John Durso
Sep 06, 2017
We adopted a 24/7 visitor policy after much encouragement. Unfortunately, we occasionally get disruptive visitors. What can we do to restrict this without receiving complaints?
Ask the legal expert … about personal liability insurance
By
John Durso
Jun 01, 2014
Do you think nursing home or CCRC staff members should have their own personal liability insurance?
Ask the legal expert … about pressure-ulcer product promises
By
John Durso
Aug 01, 2013
What happens if we contract with an alternate pressure-surface vendor that claims we’ll lower our pressure-ulcer rates by using its product, but our incidents actually increase? Can we sue?
Ask the legal expert … about gun violence in facilities
By
John Durso
Jun 01, 2013
A resident smuggles a gun into our facility and shoots a worker who, she says, has been treating her harshly or disrespectfully. What’s our recourse?