Nursing Home Insurance

Is your nursing home properly safeguarded against risks? If not, you could face charges from a variety of sources. Nursing home insurance can provide reimbursement if you end up having to pay for problems out-of-pocket.

Many nursing homes face liability issues from the following problems:

• Negligent Supervision: Elderly patients often need to be supervised, and some patients may even need to be monitored 24/7 to help avoid self-inflicted injury. Stepping away for just a few minutes could leave a patient alone long enough to hurt themselves. Note that supervision is not limited to watching patients. In many cases, employees must actively check for potential problems (places where patients could slip and fall, whether or not patients have been able to get up and move around, etc.) in order to fulfill their legal responsibility to patients.
• Negligent Hiring: Most employees at nursing homes genuinely mean well; however, sometimes negligent hiring occurs. Employees may actively abuse or neglect the facility's patients, and the nursing home could be held liable for not adequately screening potential employees. Additional training after hiring (or during the hiring process) can help mitigate this, but negligent hiring coverage provides an additional level of security if an employee doesn't work out.
• Failure to Keep the Facility Safe: Whether it's removing water on the floor or managing patients with an inclination to violence, employees of nursing homes are expected to keep the facility safe for all inhabitants.

Nursing Home Malpractice Insurance

As facilities that provide medical care, nursing homes fall under local and federal regulations regarding the protection of patients. Substandard care can cause serious harm to patients, and in this situation, charges could be brought against the facility or whomever was treating the patient in question.

Medical malpractice insurance can help make a crisis manageable, giving your facility the time it needs to make necessary improvements to ensure the problem doesn't reoccur. Different types of care have different levels of risk, so talk a Westmoreland Insurance agent today about what kind of medical care your nursing home offers. Once we know exactly what services you provide to your patients, we'll work with you to find a nursing home insurance policy that meets your needs.

1. "Negligent Supervision Claims." AllLaw.com. Accessed April 14, 2016. http://www.alllaw.com/articles/nolo/personal-injury/negligent-supervision.html.

2. "Abuse in Nursing Homes." Nursinghomefamilies.com. Accessed April 14, 2016. http://www.nursinghomefamilies.com/NH_web/Abuse_in_Nursing_Homes.html