Tort Immunity and Nursing Home Staffing

What was the association between nursing home staffing and laws adopted during the COVID-19 pandemic that immunized nursing homes from tort liability for patient harms?In this cohort study of 13 205 nursing homes, facilities immune from tort liability exhibited a 2.5% reduction (7.9 hours per day) in staff time per patient per day than nursing homes in states that did not grant tort immunity.Tort immunity was associated with decreased nursing home staffing.

Corresponding Author: David S. Zingmond, MD, PhD, Division of General Internal Medicine and Health Services Research, David Geffen School of Medicine, University of California, Los Angeles, 1100 Glendon Ave, Ste 850, Los Angeles, CA 90024 (dzingmond@mednet.ucla.edu).

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