Hello, and welcome to today’s presentation. This presentation explores ethical and legal factors that affect care coordination in nursing homes. Also, it evaluates how the code of ethics impacts care coordination.
We will begin by explaining how government policies related to nursing homes impact care coordination. We will then identify policy provisions that elicit ethical questions. Thereafter, we will explain how care coordination is affected by the code of ethics. Finally, we will provide a summary of our presentation.
Nursing homes provide holistic care to their residents. Most of the residents are the elderly population who may have multiple comorbidities. The majority of the population comprises permanent residents that require continuous monitoring. Various government policies impact care coordination for nursing homes. Firstly, the Nursing Home Reform Act establishes quality standards to guide the day-to-day operations in nursing homes (NursingHomeAbuseGuide.org, n.d.). According to the Act, residents have the right to access services such as proper nutrition, appropriate medication, right to privacy, mental health services, and services involving activities of daily living (NursingHomeAbuseGuide.org, n.d.). In addition, the residents should not be mistreated. Also, the Act directs healthcare providers to create an individualized plan of care for all residents (NursingHomeAbuseGuide.org, n.d.). To accomplish this, the Act directs nursing homes to have optimized ratios of healthcare providers to patients. As such, the Nursing Home Reform Act impacts care coordination by advocating adequate staffing to ensure that all residents access quality healthcare services.
Secondly, the Older Americans Act aims to optimize the general well-being of older adults by providing various services. To accomplish this, it established a department to provide Federal grants. These grants facilitate various activities such as funding nursing homes, making social services available, training personnel about aging, and planning community resources (NursingHomeAbuseGuide.org, n.d.). Furthermore, the grants provide nutritional services to the elderly population. This Act impacts care coordination by training more personnel and funding nursing homes to address the unique needs of the elderly population (NursingHomeAbuseGuide.org, n.d.). Thirdly, the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act impacts care coordination. This Act requires covered entities to uphold patient information privacy, confidentiality, and security (Theodos & Sittig, 2021). Nurses and other healthcare providers working in covered nursing homes should uphold HIPAA to improve the quality of care.
The Nursing Home Reform Act is an example of a policy aiming to improve the quality of care in nursing homes. Nursing homes that fail to adhere to this Act risk penalizations and lower reimbursement rates from Medicare and Medicaid (NursingHomeAbuseGuide.org, n.d.). The Act directs nursing homes to have an adequate number of nurses to avert the risk of fatigue and errors caused by nursing shortages (NursingHomeAbuseGuide.org, n.d.). An adequate number of nurses will allow the delegation of duties and promote care coordination in nursing homes. Also, nurses are required to formulate individualized care plans that fulfil patients’ holistic needs (NursingHomeAbuseGuide.org, n.d.). For instance, incapacitated patients should be assisted in accomplishing their daily activities. Furthermore, nursing homes should maintain proper documentation and adequate supervision and monitor patients closely.
Various policy provisions impact care coordination and raise ethical questions for nursing home residents. Medicare is a federal policy that mainly targets people aged 65 years and above (HHS.gov, 2022). Also, it provides coverage for people with specific conditions, such as end-stage kidney failure (HHS.gov, 2022). Medicare has standardized costs and is similar in all states. Medicaid provides coverage for low-income individuals and those with limited resources (HHS.gov, 2022). Secondly, Medicaid coverage varies from one state to another. Lastly, the Affordable Care Act was enacted to expand healthcare coverage and promote innovativeness in healthcare (McIntyre & Song, 2019). Therefore, Medicare, Medicaid, and the Affordable Care Act aimed to improve access to healthcare services.
Medicaid, Medicare, and the Affordable Care Act raise some ethical concerns. Firstly, Medicaid and Medicare present the dilemma of improving access to healthcare services versus cost and quality care. Medicaid and Medicare have provided health coverage to approximately forty-two million and 40 million people, respectively. Increased coverage and acc
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