Skilled Nursing Facility (SNF) Expert Witness

A Skilled Nursing Facility (SNF) expert witness is a physician, nurse, or administrator testifying on SNF and residential issues like staff and treatment. Nursing homes are residential care facilities, certified to participate in Medicare, that provide continuous live-in care for elderly and infirm residents. Skilled Nursing Facilities (SNFs) are also known as “nursing homes” because they are staffed with nurses who monitor residents and attend to their needs. In this regard, nursing homes differ from group homes, board and care homes, assisted living facilities, congregate living, and other residential treatment facilities that may have trained caregivers in the absence of registered nurses. In addition to registered nurses (RNs) and Certified Nursing Assistants (CNAs), many nursing homes have attending physicians (typically Geriatric Medicine, Internal Medicine, or Family Medicine) who supervise patient care. Physicians also serve as Medical Directors whose administrative duties focus on patient care.  SNF personnel are overseen by Nursing Home Administrators and Executive Directors who are not healthcare providers.  Given the diversity of SNF personnel, it is imperative to select a properly aligned Skilled Nursing Facility expert witness.

Nursing home litigation typically focuses on two areas:

1. Medical Negligence
2. Elder Abuse/Neglect

Allegations of medical negligence typically involve falls, medication errors, complex infections, and pressure wounds (bedsores). The exploration of these issues may require SNF nurses on standard of care and physicians from various specialties (e.g. Orthopedics, Wound Care, Infectious Disease) on causation. Skilled Nursing Home Administrative experts may be required to address credentialing, staffing, and compliance.

Elder abuse is a separate tort, though when an abuse allegation includes neglect, it often intertwines with medical negligence. There are numerous state and federal laws to protect the elderly from neglect, physical abuse, sexual attacks, and financial exploitation. Such allegations may be independent of medical negligence claims, or they may dovetail when medical problems like fractures and bedsores occur under suspicious circumstances.

Given the diverse issues and medical specialties involved in Skilled Nursing Facility negligence and elder abuse cases, expert witnesses may include SNF Nurses, Nurse Assistants, and nearly every medical and surgical specialty. For issues of causation, leading university experts in Geriatrics, Infectious Disease, Wound Care, Orthopedics, Neurology, and Psychiatry are mission-critical.