Illinois Nursing Home Neglect

Illinois Nursing Home Neglect Lawyers To Help You

When choosing an Illinois nursing home neglect and elder abuse lawyer, which things are important to you: a great education, local office, attire, reputation, publicity/advertisement, volume of clientele; someone who won’t rip you off? These may be a few of the things you weigh when you shop for an Illinois nursing home neglect and elder abuse lawyer but are they the important issues? Choosing the right Illinois nursing home neglect and elder abuse lawyer can often seem like a daunting task in today’s world of scammers and frauds. Television and the media often instill in us a stereotype of ruthless lawyers who only care about money and prestige. While there are some who fall into that category, the majority of men and women practicing as lawyers are solid professionals who want to do their job well and honestly care about the services they’re performing.

There are many different things that you must keep in mind to pick up an excellent Illinois nursing home neglect and elder abuse lawyer. There are numerous excellent Illinois lawyers around; you just have to make sure you get the one that’s right for you. All Illinois lawyers are not equal and do not specialize in the same tasks; many take on roles in specialty fields of law, such as personal injury law and finance law. Remember, you wouldn’t hire a divorce attorney to help you with tax problems, and you certainly wouldn’t hire a tax attorney to help you with a divorce case. Thus it is imperative to determine what kind of case you have and find a lawyer accordingly. If you are reading this, you more than likely are looking for a competent nursing home neglect and elder abuse lawyer. A lawyer who specializes in tasks such as taxes, divorcing, drinking under influence (dui lawyer), etc. will not necessarily be the best lawyer for a nursing home abuse or neglect case.

There are many law firms advertising and competing for your business. The truth is, though, not all lawyers advertise. Those who do are required to list specific areas of law in which they practice. After you’ve figured out what type of lawyer you need, it’s time to find one. Before you think to spend money you need to do research to find an excellent Illinois nursing home neglect and abuse lawyer. In other words, do due diligence on the lawyer. Ask everyone you know if they have any recommendations. If they don’t, do what research you can online and find someone who meets your needs. Before you contact them, look at their credentials. Call the Illinois bar association for information on the lawyer. These days most lawyers and law firms have a website. Review the website and determine if the person really has a license and how clean of a record they have. Find out how many nursing home neglect and elder abuse cases they’ve won or lost, how many have been thrown out, and any other details that might help you decide. Do they specialize or sub-specialize in medical and elder abuse/neglect cases? This would be important. Check for a Certificate of Good Standing for the Illinois nursing home lawyer you are considering and check Martindale-Hubble, a reliable source for information on lawyers. Another source for Illinois lawyer information is www.findlaw.com.

Next, it is important to meet your choosen Illinois Nursing Home Neglect and Elder Abuse Lawyer face to face first before you start working with him/her. Sometimes there will be a charge for this consultation but many Illinois lawyers don’t charge for an initial consultation. When you call or meet the nursing home neglect lawyer face to face ask these important questions: Who will be handling my case day to day? When will I meet with the partner? Who will be negotiating my case? Who will be trying my case? How quickly are my phone calls returned? What is your experience with my type of case? How many cases do each of your attorneys handle at one time? Ask the Illinois nursing home neglect and elder abuse lawyer for a list of client references. Ask about cases he or she has lost, and ask whether he or she ever had a client go to another attorney after he/she started their case. When you call, ask the nursing home elder abuse lawyer or firm whether they can recommend another nursing home neglect and elder abuse colleague/firm to get another opinion about your case. If they show reluctance to do this, you may want to look elsewhere. Lawyers should not be afraid to recommend another good lawyer.

Third, you need to be sure the lawyer is one who specializes in elder abuse; e.g. it is their niche. If you want to pick up a lawyer who will give you the most comprehensive review and determination of the potential of your case, you will want one who has experience in elder abuse and neglect. Be wary of a firm that claims they can do everything. In today’s legal climate it is rare that a general practice firm can do all that extremely well. That is why there are numerous lawyers that focus exclusively on one or two areas of law.

After you choose your Illinois nursing home nelgect and abuse lawyer, you should sit down with him/her and discuss fees. Most lawyers, regardless of specialty, will request a retainer just for hiring their services. On top of the retainer you may be charged hourly or on contingency. Contingency simply refers to the percentage of money an Illinois lawyer may earn if you win your case; in some situations they may take as much as 40%.

Finally, you need to communicate with and know what to expect from the Illinois nursing home neglect lawyer you pick. The lawyer you choose must be able to communicate with you and spend time explaining the legal process and what to expect down the road. You should not be handed off to a junior associate to handle your questions who then has to go back to the senior partner with questions to get answers. Having an attorney know your file as well as you do, if not better, is extremely important.

There is a golden rule to remember: If an Illinois nusring home neglect and elder abuse lawyer gives you a guarantee that he can win the case – quickly turn and walk away and don’t work with this lawyer. No one can guarantee you that he/she can win a court case. There are too many variables in every case and each case has its own merits and problems. The reality is that no lawyer can claim to get you “cold hard cash” because every case is different. Some lawyers claim that they can “Settle your case fast!” Sure they can, for a lower amount than your case might be worth. Your lawyer can tell you if there is a good probability of winning or settling the case, but there is no 100% guarantee.

Retaining the right Illinois Nursing Home Neglect and Abuse Lawyer makes all the difference in your case; it could be the difference between winning and losing. If you have a good, expert attorney who is a specialist in the area in which you need representation, you’re on the right path.

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Protect Illinois Residents From Nursing Home Neglect

You may or may not have an elderly loved one in a Illinois nursing home. Whether you do or not, you can do some things to make a difference for those who are in Illinous nursing homes and therefore vulnerable to elder abuse or elder neglect.
How do you help change lives? How do you change the system that is damaging many senior citizens and disabled individuals? How can you look inside of an Illinois nursing home and bring care to those that might not be receiving care (i.e. they are being neglected)? You can help and you can help today. You can help prevent abuse and nelgect in Illinois Nursing Homes.

Some ideas you can do to help:

Get together with your local community organizations and or churches or synagogues and bring the need to their attention. Ask that a committee be formed to go inside of Illinois nursing homes. Have them write and or call and ask for permission to bring visitors and programs inside of the nursing homes. The more people are in the Illinois nursing home, the less likely there will be elder neglect and abuse.
Organize holiday concerts or programs that you can bring in during regular days, weekdays and weekends into Illinois Nursing Homes.
Approach your local Illinois nursing homes and tell them that you want to help the elderly residents become connected on the internet so they can contact their families which are usually in other states or countries.
Arrange as many visitors as you can bring in to visit these elderly patients and residents.
Ask your co-workers to form a team that will visit individual elderly residents in Illinois Nursing Homes. Contact the caregivers and family members of the elderly residents and tell them that you would like to begin visits to that Illinois nursing home and ask their permission to visit their family members who reside in those places.
Ask your boss to begin a program where you work that will enable the workers to visit elderly residents inside of Illinois nursing homes.
If you know journalists or media people personally, ask them to help uncover the injustices, the elder abuse, and the elder neglect that are happening on a daily basis inside Illinois nursing homes as well as nursing homes throughout the country. Ask them for free time to talk about the nursing home neglect and nursing home abuse that happens inside of nursing homes.
Advertise and seek out voluntary nursing home neglect and elder abuse lawyers and legal professionals to help families deal with the red tape that some of the offending Illinois nursing homes dish out to families and elderly residents who make legitimate complaints.
Ask everyone you know to go and visit inside of Illinois nursing homes whenever and where ever possible. (always check with the families first and always obtain permission.)
Donate stamps and envelopes to seniors and write back and forth to them. Keep them connected. This is extremely important. Ask the families if you can telephone these seniors or disabled individuals and then do that once you gain permission.
Reach out to isolated elderly patients in the Illinois Nursing Homes via email and via telephone calls.
If you are phoning someone at an Illinois nursing home and they never answer the pay phone, document that fully. Document how many times the phones ring at the nursing home and document how many hours or days or weeks it takes you to actually reach the resident. All of the above information will be quite helpful at Congressional and public hearings when they come up.
Contact your Senator or your Congressman to ask for public hearings regarding the neglectful and abusive conditions inside of Illinois nursing homes.
Contact any of your local Illinois community organizations and ask for help in changing conditions “behind the walls” of Illinois nursing homes. Go to your local Illinois community leaders and ask them where you can go to for help. Reach out to everyone you know in your neighborhood and ask for referrals. You will find the right person to help if you just keep asking as many people as you can ask.
Contact other families in your communities. Contact them through PTA meetings and contact them through business improvement meetings and contact them through various meetings that happen in your community. Once you contact them ask everyone to participate in some way to help isolated Illinois nursing home residents. Ask some to write letters to Congress or to the Mayor. Ask others to contact elderly patients’ families and ask permission to visit.

By doing any and all of these things you will help change the conditions inside of Illinois nursing homes. You can help prevent Illinois Nursing Home neglect and abuse. Contact is what changes these kinds of problems inside of Illinois nursing homes.

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Regulation of Illinois Nursing Homes

Nursing homes in Illinois are licensed, regulated, inspected and/or certified by a number of public and private agencies at the state and federal levels, including the Illinois Department of Public Health (IDPH) and the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services’ Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS). IDPH, through a survey process, is responsible for ensuring nursing homes fully comply with mandatory state regulations as well as ensuring that facilities accepting Medicare and Medicaid payment meet federal regulations. All nursing facilities in Illinois are required to meet mandatory state standards that set the minimum and essential requirements of care that must be provided. Facilities are required to comply with the standards to provide the highest quality of care possible. One part of this is, of course, to prevent abuse and neglect in nursing homes.

Survey teams inspect and evaluate whether facilities meet the required standards and, if so, certify their success in meeting specific care standards. Facilities failing to meet the standards are subject to fine or other enforcement actions. IDPH conducts approximately 1,300 full, on-site licensure inspections annually of nursing homes and responds to approximately 6,000 complaints annually. Some Illinois nursing homes are members of national accrediting organization, such as the Joint Commission (JC), which independently inspects member facilities to assess performance.

IDPH surveys are generally conducted on-site. The state’s inspection teams evaluates all aspects of resident care and nursing home procedures and practices, assessing facility compliance with more than 1,500 state and federal standards. The evaluation of the facility and the care it provides may include an inspection of medical records, observation of resident care, inspection of all areas of the nursing home, and interviews of residents, family members, staff or other individuals. Inspections in response to complaints are generally shorter in duration than licensure surveys and focus primarily on those areas of resident care alleged to be at fault. If, during the course of a complaint investigation, additional problems are uncovered, a full on-site inspection may be initiated. The state average for inspection of Illinois Nursing Homes is once every 12 months and is conducted without notice to the facility (e.g. they are unannounced).

At the conclusion of each inspection, IDPH’s findings are shared with nursing home administrative staff in an exit interview and are included in a survey report, called a Statement of Deficiency) that is forwarded to the facility. If IDPH has determined that the nursing home failed to comply with all applicable state and federal licensure standards, the facility will be cited for deficiencies.

A deficiency is a determination by IDPH that a nursing home has violated one or more specific licensure or certification regulations. When deficiencies are alleged, the facility is given an opportunity to rebut the deficiencies. If deficiencies are cited, IDPH requires the nursing home to submit a written plan of correction within 10 days detailing how and when each deficiency will be corrected. In many cases, nursing homes are given the opportunity to correct less serious deficiencies without incurring fines or other penalties. If warranted, however, IDPH may impose a fine, curtail admissions, appoint a temporary manager, issue a provisional license, suspend or revoke a nursing home’s license, close an unlicensed facility, or use other remedies for violations of statutes as provided by state or federal law, or as authorized by federal survey, certification, and enforcement regulations and agreements. Nursing homes with repeat or severe violations of federal licensing standards may have their Medicare or Medicaid certification suspended or revoked by CMS. These nursing homes do not receive reimbursement for services given to program participants while the facility is under such a sanction.

The information about the inspections and complaint investigations is available from IDPH These inspection reports show only a one-time “snap-shot” of nursing home compliance with established standards. To more fully assess the quality of care provided by a facility, it is important that you review current and past survey reports. You may also wish to discuss services and performance levels with your doctor and with family members or friends who have used the facility.

Complete survey reports and nursing home plans of correction, edited to ensure patient confidentiality, are available at each nursing home as well as at IDPH. The most recent federal inspection surveys are posted on the web at www.medicare.gov/NHCompare/home.asp.

To request a copy of an inspection file through IDPH, write to:

Illinois Department of Public Health
Freedom of Information Officer
535 W. Jefferson St.
Springfield, IL 62761
Attn: Division of Communications

Anyone wishing to file a complaint, such as for Nursing Home Nelgect or Abuse, about an Illinois nursing home, should call the IDPH toll-free hotline at 1-800-252-4343.

Filed Under Federal Law to Prevent Neglect, How to Choose a Nursing Home, State Law | 1 Comment

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Illinois Nursing Home Neglect