Providers shouldn’t assume that federal authorities will slow down enforcement efforts in the aftermath of the coronavirus pandemic. In fact, they should expect authorities to “step up” efforts — and that includes its new National Nursing Home Initiative, a legal expert said.
“The two most recent examples are the financial crisis of 2008 and then the BP oil spill in 2010,” Brandon Essig, a partner with Lightfoot, Franklin & White LLC, told McKnight’s.
“Both of those resulted in a multitude of significant [Department of Justice] enforcement actions, criminally and civilly. The coronavirus will be no different and federal prosecutors will be eager to quickly demonstrate to the public that they are responding.”
Essig explained that the pandemic poses a “unique and significant threat” to nursing homes because of its susceptible population, which will make them “natural targets for investigations.”
The DOJ’s National Nursing Home Initiative announced in March targets the nation’s “worst nursing homes,” particularly in regards to care quality. The best way providers, if targeted, can defend themselves against legal action is by having good operating procedures that the facility can demonstrate meet the standard of care, according to Essig. He added that the most likely triggers of fraud or abuse investigations would be suspect billing practices and reported instances of patient harm.
Essig said that the most important action providers can take right now is to focus on their operations and begin conducting self-assessments.
“In fact, DOJ expects [such self-assessments] by any business susceptible to a DOJ investigation,” Essig said. “Also, I would recommend that all nursing homes implement policies and procedures to deal with the next iteration of a virus like COVID-19, or perhaps the next wave of this virus.”
