Suspected cases of abuse against the elderly are still underreported, according to federal auditors: gunshots

It can be difficult to quantify the problem of elder abuse. Experts believe that many cases are not reported. And Wednesday morning, their conviction was confirmed by two new government studies.

Research, conducted and published by the Office of the Inspector General of the US Department of Health and Human Services, reveals that in many cases of abuse or neglect serious enough to require medical attention, incidents n & # 39; 39 have not been reported to the monitoring agencies, although this is required by law.

One of the studies focuses solely on possible abuse of nursing home residents who end up in emergency rooms. The report examines the applications sent to Medicare in 2016 for the treatment of head injuries, bruises, bed sores and other diagnoses that may indicate physical abuse, sexual abuse or gross negligence.

Gloria Jarmon, Deputy Inspector General of Audit Services, said her team found that nursing homes had not reported nearly one in five cases to the state inspection agencies conducting their investigation.

"Some of the cases we saw, a person is treated in an emergency room [and] they are sent back to the same facility where they may have been abused and neglected, "said Jarmon.

But the lack of registration and follow-up Possible cases of elder abuse are not just the fault of old people's homes. According to Jarmon, in five states where retirement home inspectors investigated and corroborated cases of abuse, "97% of them were not reported to the local police, contrary to what was needed ".

Nursing inspectors The homes that participated in the study seemed confused as to when to refer cases to law enforcement, Jarmon notes.. A government agency said it contacted the police only for "what it calls the most serious" cases of abuse. "

Elder abuse occurs in many settings – not just in retirement homes. The second study looked at Medicare claims for the treatment of potential abuse or neglect of the elderly, regardless of where they occurred. Data was collected on incidents between January 2015 and June 2017.

Federal auditors estimated that out of more than 30,000 potential cases, health care providers did not report nearly one-third of incidents to law enforcement or adult protection services, although obliges to make such reports.

"It is very important that the first person who notices this potential abuse and negligence points out it, because it can then begin the investigation process to determine whether there has been abuse or neglect," he said. Jarmon. "And if it's not reported, it can not be followed."

The HHS According to the report, Medicare could better analyze the data it has. It recommends that the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, which oversee the health care program for older Americans, periodically review treatment requests, seek diagnoses suggestive of abuse or neglect, and where and when where these cases occur.

"You need to be able to get the data to see how bad the problem is," says Jarmon, "so that" everyone who can take action makes the decision ".

However, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, which fund a large portion of health care for the elderly, provide advice on reporting by health workers and health facilities, rejected most of the recommendations of the reports.

CMS declined the request for maintenance from NPR, but in a written response, it states that Medicare claims processing may take up to one year. Thus, the analysis of such claims, says CMS, would be "not [a] fast enough "to identify and treat cases of elder abuse and neglect.

The report of the Inspector General indicates that the vast majority of Medicare claims are filed within a month and not a year. And Gloria Jarmon says that simply letting state agencies and health care providers know that they are being monitored could reduce the problem of elder abuse.