How To Report Nursing Home Neglect In Florida

Although many residents never experience neglect, fraud, or abuse in a nursing home, some unfortunately do. If you believe any of the aforementioned instances happened, you have two options for reporting the nursing home in the State of Florida. The path you choose will ultimately depend on why you’re reporting the facility to authorities. 

Entering into the process can be tricky. This is why many people hire an attorney to assist them in reporting the negligent institution and if possible, pursue financial compensation on behalf of the harmed individual. 

In today’s post, we’ll take a look at how to report nursing home neglect and potentially file a lawsuit to recover compensation for any injuries your loved one suffered.

Reporting fraud

Fraud is very common in nursing homes. For example, facilities may bill the resident for the services they didn’t provide or charge them for a more expensive service. 

To report this, you can contact the Agency for Health Care Administration (AHCA) by calling (888) 419-3456 or filing an online report. 

The process is fairly easy if you have all the necessary information, such as:

• Name of the facility
• Facility’s Medicaid ID number
• Date on which the event occurred (when they received care at the facility)
• Estimate or an exact amount of money involved in the fraudulent activity
• Explanation of your concerns

There is the possibility that the nursing home also conducted other fraudulent activities. Apart from overbilling Medicare, they may have also overbilled the resident directly. 

This is why you should consult an attorney who can review all the account statements, contracts, and invoices on your behalf to pinpoint other instances of fraud. 

Reporting abuse or neglect

Abuse and neglect are much more serious matters than fraud because you also have to deal with the trauma of someone you love suffering due to a caretaker’s actions.

Here’s how to report nursing home neglect or abuse in Florida. The first step is filing a report with the Department of Health through the Florida Health Care Complaint Portal. If you’re worried about retaliation, fear not, as the Department of Health protects the confidentiality of patient records and identities. 

It’s worth pointing out that it will take time for the department’s investigators to confirm these allegations. Since most residents don’t want to wait for an excessive amount of time, you should hire an attorney at the same time when you report the abuse.

A legal professional can help extricate the resident from the nursing home if needed, and will also immediately start investigating the neglect or abuse.

Signs you should report a nursing home

The problem with the majority of neglect or abuse allegations is the fact that even residents who are experiencing these scenarios often give their caretakers the benefit of the doubt. In some cases, nursing home staff will work hard to hide evidence of any abuse, neglect, or fraud that took place.

However, don't take any chances if you’re concerned about your loved one’s safety. Your concerns are probably valid and the instances of mistreatment won’t disappear on their own. 

So, what is a good reason to report a nursing home?

Here are a few:

• Injuries
• Weight loss or weight gain
• Unwanted physical contacts
• Psychological or verbal abuse
• Excessive medical bills
• Missing personal property 
• Missing money
• Bedsores
• Extended periods of isolation
• Inability to contact friends or family
• Limited access to basic hygienic care
• Limited access to medications

Any of these events can cause extensive psychological and physical trauma, which is why it’s in your loved one’s best interests to take quick action.

How to sue a nursing home?

In addition to learning how to report nursing home neglect, one of the best ways to hold the assisted living facility accountable for its actions is to file a lawsuit. According to Florida law, by filing a civil suit against the negligent parties, you can recover compensation for all the financial losses stemming from the injury. 

In such circumstances, you’ll have to prove the nursing home failed to live up to accepted standards of care. In the context of assisted living facilities, these are very high due to the nature of the patients. 

An attorney will help you assert your claim. After collecting the necessary evidence and creating the required documents, they will file a claim with the local court. The other party must respond to the claim to avoid losing automatically.

Afterward, the discovery process starts, during which both parties exchange case information. 

At this stage, an attorney will attempt to negotiate a favorable settlement. In most cases, the other party will accept this arrangement as it allows them to avoid a lengthy litigation process. If the negotiations fail, your case goes to trial where the jury or the judge will decide the outcome. 

It’s important to note that the type of neglect that occurs will come with different standards of care.

For example, if your loved one was harmed by a physician at the facility, it constitutes malpractice. This means your attorney has to prove that the care provided fell short of the accepted standards of care in the medical industry. Put differently, they’ll have to show that another competent physician of a similar skill level would have avoided causing harm to a patient in similar circumstances.

Speak to an attorney ASAP

Along with reporting the abuse or neglect to a state agency, it’s often in your best interests to also pursue a legal claim on your own. 

Having legal help from the get-go helps you avoid some common mistakes, but more importantly, it speeds up the process. The more time passes, the harder tracking down evidence will be. Staff could destroy documents, hide evidence of abuse, or even influence other residents to keep their shady dealings a secret. 

Hence, get your loved one the help they need now and see to it that their interests are protected and that liable parties suffer the consequences of their actions. 

If your case involves any form of medical malpractice, consider hiring Sowell Chakour.

Not only are we experienced with nursing home negligence, but we are also one of the most reliable malpractice attorneys in the Sunshine State. As a firm that employs attorneys with experience in the medical field, having us on your case allows you to get the best of both worlds and thus, bring a stronger lawsuit against the negligent nursing home.

Call (833) 633-6257 or fill out our contact form to schedule an appointment.

Note: 

The information in this blog post is for reference only and not legal advice. As such, you should not make legal decisions based on the information in this blog post. Moreover, there is no lawyer-client relationship resulting from this blog post, nor should any such relationship be implied. If you need legal counsel, please consult a lawyer licensed to practice in your jurisdiction.