Two years ago, after Senator Ron Wyden, Democrat of Oregon, complained that it was easier for consumers to get information about washing machines than about nursing homes, the federal Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (C.M.S.) began revamping its website, Nursing Home Compare, in order to add a rating system.
Today, if you want to see how your grandma's downtown Dallas nursing facility has rated over the past year or two all you have to do is go to the Nursing Home Compare website.
Nursing homes are rated from a single star (meaning "much below average") to five stars ("much above average"). Facilities are typically graded on health inspections, staffing and quality. Nursing home administrators provide much of the information that make up the rating of their community, but independent annual inspections also play a major role.
C.M.S. surveyors visit the nation's nursing homes 65,000 times a year. The surveyor's inspection results remain on the Nursing Home Compare website for the past three years, so problem areas are available for everyone to review.
A good nursing home can have a bad survey, said Ed Mortimore, who helped establish the C.M.S. star rating system. "We've done our best to capture data over a long enough period to try to minimize chance events, but I wouldn't indict a nursing home on the basis of one poor survey."
Many health care experts have suggested using the star system as one component of a multi-faceted review that includes on-site visits and discussions with administrators and family members.
Comments