Nonprofit Nursing Homes Having Fewer Deficiciencies Than For Profit Firms, According to IG Report

According to an Office of Inspector General Report dated September 18, 2008, a greater percentage of for-profit nursing homes were cited for deficiencies than not for profit and government nursing homes in each of the past 3 years.  Still the differences seemed too slight to draw any conclusions regarding the for-profit and nonprofit form:

In 2007, 94 percent of for-profit nursing homes surveyed were cited for deficiencies, compared to 88 percent of not-for-profit and 91 percent of government nursing homes. Since 2005, the percentages of for-profit nursing homes with deficiencies were between 3 and 6 points higher than the percentages of the other types of nursing homes with deficiencies. In each of the past 3 years, for-profit nursing homes made up 67 percent of the nursing homes surveyed, not-for-profit homes accounted for 27 percent, and government-owned homes accounted for the remaining 6 percent. For-profit nursing homes also had a higher average number of deficiencies per home than the other types of nursing homes. In 2007, for-profit nursing homes averaged 7.6 deficiencies per home, while not-for-profit and government homes averaged 5.7 and 6.3, respectively. As Table 2 below shows, the averages for all types of nursing homes increased since 2005.  In addition, a greater percentage of multifacility nursing homes were cited for deficiencies, compared to single-facility nursing homes. In 2007, 93 percent of multifacility nursing homes surveyed were cited for deficiencies, as opposed to 91 percent of single-facility nursing homes. These numbers have not changed significantly since 2005. The average number of deficiencies was also higher for multifacility homes than for single-facility homes in each of the past 3 years. 

For press coverage, see this New York Times article. 

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