New Government Rating System for Nursing Homes: For-Profit Nursing Homes Don't Rate Well
The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid released a new rating system today and, not surprisingly, for-profit U.S. nursing home facilities do not rate well.
The new rating system, which assigns homes one to five stars for quality, staffing, and health inspections, is the result of years of research to develop a rating formula. Results will be updated quarterly and is overseen by an advisory panel.
Scoring reflects tens of thousands of inspection records, complaint investigations, and quality measures, such as nursing staff hours provided to daily to patients, number of patients developing bedsores, and number of patients in restraints. Much of the data used was accumulated in 2008.
For-profit nursing homes did not fare well using the new rating system. Twenty-seven percent of the United States' 10,542 for-profit homes received one star, compared to 9% of the 4,182 non-profit nursing facilities. Nineteen percent of non-profit facilities received five stars, compared with 9% of for-profit nursing facilities. Low staffing at the for-profit homes appears to have contributed to the lower ratings for for-profit facilties.
To see how your loved one's nursing home rates, go to Nursing Home Ratings or Nursing Home Compare.
