Department of Health and Human Services Awards CNA $2.3 Million to Help States Improve Background Checks on Long-Term Care Workers

ALEXANDRIA, VIRGINIA – CNA (CNA), a non-profit, public interest research and analysis institution, has received a $2.3 million award from the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS), an arm of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, to provide technical assistance to states as part of a three-year pilot program to improve the ability to screen prospective employees of long-term care facilities.

"We are pleased to enter into partnership with CMS to help address the critical issue of curbing abuse to recipients of long term health care," said Lee Gunn, President of CNA's Institute for Public Research, the arm of CNA that will carry out this project. "We look forward to helping CMS fulfill its mission to best serve patients in need of long term care."

Up to ten states will participate in the program, required by the Medicare Modernization Act and aimed at curbing abuse in long-term care institutions and of recipients of long-term home health care.

CNA will develop a range of options and provide analytical guidance to states to help them vet prospective employees of nursing homes, home health agencies, hospices, long-term care hospitals, and intermediate care facilities for persons with mental handicaps, and other institutions that provide long-term care services. The program, for example, will help states implement cost-effective and time-sensitive methods of executing fingerprint checks on prospective employees.

"The CMS award presents an excellent opportunity for CNA to use its expertise to find innovative ways to enhance state and federal policy to protect patients receiving long term medical care – and to ultimately to improve their care," said Dr. Laurie May, Director of CNA's Health Care Operations Research and Policy Center. "A key focus of our efforts will be to facilitate communication between CMS and the states so that federal and state officials can learn from the challenges they face and improve on their successes over the three-year trial period."

Incidents of abuse and neglect at long-term care facilities have received increased attention in recent years, in part due to the burgeoning elderly population, and in part to technological improvements that can help root out problems, including video monitors in residents' rooms. The consensus among legislators and researchers is that the most effective way to curb abuses is to weed out applicants with a criminal past, which has led to enhanced state and federal efforts to implement background checks.