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Grassley calls for survey crackdown

LTC Liability Monitor, July 14, 2004

Congress's long-time nursing home watchdog Senator Charles Grassley (R-IA) called for increased CMS oversight of the state survey process, USA Today reported.

In a letter sent last Friday to CMS Administrator Mark McClellan, Grassley said surveyors are routinely pressured to "understate the existence of serious quality-of-care findings" under the current system, and rarely review resident or family complaints thoroughly.

CMS should review data from troubled facilities that suddenly show drastic improvement, and create a way for surveyors to anonymously report problems related to the inspection process, Grassley recommended.

The agency has already made changes to the survey process-such as focusing inspections on problems such as pressure ulcers, malnutrition, and staffing-and will take further action to improve care, CMS said in a statement on Friday.

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