GAO Report on Nursing Home Deficiencies
The GAO has released correspondence to Sen. Charles Grassley on its analysis of whether nursing home surveys accurately identify serious deficiencies. The GAO reviewed fiscal year (FY) 2008 federal comparative survey data, in which federal surveyors independently resurvey a home recently inspected by state surveyors and compare deficiencies identified during the two survey). The GAO found that 12.3% of FY 2008 comparative surveys identified at least one missed serious deficiency, compared to 14.7% in FY 2007. The number of states that missed serious deficiencies on 25% or more of their comparative surveys declined from nine to six states, with eight of those states improving their overall performance. In addition, 74.8% of comparative surveys had at least one lower-level missed deficiency in FY 2008.
