A report released Thursday by the General Accounting Office (GAO), a special investigative branch of Congress, discusses the continuing problems with patient care in nursing homes. According to the GAO's data, 20 percent of the nation's 17,000 nursing homes were cited for violations between July 2000 and January 2002, many involving serious physical injury and death. Violations committed by nursing home staffs included the failure to notify physicians of medical problems in a timely manner as well as the failure to monitor and prevent pressure sores.

The GAO report comes at a difficult time for the nursing home industry as the medical community continues to learn of more and more reports involving nursing home abuse. Interest groups blame hundreds of deaths each year on improper attention at elderly care centers. Last year, in a separate study, the GAO published a report suggesting that many nursing homes fail to disclose instances of alleged physical and sexual abuse in a timely manner. The Department of Health and Human Services also revealed that over ninety percent of America's nursing homes are understaffed.