The state’s executive director said a report by state auditors on how often nursing homes are inspected is “inaccurate” and “incomplete.”
State Auditor Rob Sand released an analysis Monday finding that nursing home inspections are occurring on average every 17 months, about four months longer than the federal standard. Larry Johnson, director of the Iowa Department of Inspection, Appeals and Licensing, said the federal data the state auditor relied on doesn’t provide a profile of all inspections conducted before June 1 because of lags in paperwork.
“Had he contacted us before, during and after the audit, we could have provided accurate information,” Johnson said.
Johnson said data for the current federal fiscal year shows Iowa nursing home inspections are averaging less than 13 months statewide, “so we’re exceeding expectations.”
The federal Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services pays 86 percent of the state’s nursing home inspectors’ salaries. Johnson decided to use some of that funding to pay overtime for state inspectors and speed up annual inspections of Iowa’s nursing homes. “We have 13 more nursing homes to inspect and two weeks left to inspect them,” Johnson said.
The federal fiscal year ends on September 30th.
