Arbitration agreements in health care nursing home contracts.

Increasingly, long-term care facilities are adopting alternative dispute resolution measures, such as arbitration, in admission contracts. Whereas avoiding the onus of civil lawsuits is understandable, nursing homes must ensure that the arbitration wording in the contract is precise, enforceable, and most importantly, pursuant to state and federal laws, regulations, and guidelines. Otherwise, the contract itself may be the subject of a court action.