The Nursing Home Disclosure Act

Federal legislation requires that facilities have a physician as their medical director. The medical directors supervise clinical care quality, policy and staff. Medical directors fill a variety of roles depending on the services a nursing facility provides.

McKnight’s reported on the bipartisan bill that would require nursing homes to report their medical directors’ credentials and background to CMS. Some are employed by nursing homes and others are contractors. Many serve two facilities or more, but without centralized data it is difficult to track these data points, or signs of care quality.

The Nursing Home Disclosure Act, HR8832 would also require CMS to publish the medical directors’ information on the Care Compare online tool. This will improve public transparency. This will help consumers make more informed long-term care choices. The proposed legislation will ensure that facilities are accountable for hiring qualified medical directors.

“It’s unacceptable that some nursing homes do not provide a full public accounting of who their medical director is. Our bipartisan bill will rectify that and require transparency that families need to have faith in their nursing homes.”

–Rep. Mike Levin (D-CA)

American Medical Directors Association supports the legislation. AMDA will push the bill into the Omnibus Reconciliation Act, which is the next step toward passage.