Choosing the right nursing home for yourself or a loved one is a significant decision. To assist in this process, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) developed the Five-Star Quality Rating System. This system is designed to help consumers, families, and caregivers effectively compare nursing homes and identify key areas for further inquiry. The Nursing Home Care Compare website offers these ratings, assigning each nursing home between 1 and 5 stars. A 5-star rating signifies “much above average” quality, while a 1-star rating indicates “much below average” quality.
This rating system provides an Overall 5-star rating for each nursing home, alongside separate ratings in critical categories: health inspections, staffing, and quality measures. These distinct ratings offer a comprehensive view of a facility’s performance in different areas of care.
However, it’s crucial to understand the limitations of any rating system. The 5-star rating is a valuable tool, but it doesn’t cover every aspect important to individual needs. For instance, specialized care like dementia or rehabilitation services, or the ease of visitation for family, aren’t directly reflected in the star ratings. Proximity for family visits can be a vital factor, potentially outweighing a higher star rating if a more distant facility is chosen. Therefore, consumers should utilize the Care Compare website as one component of their research, supplementing it with nursing home visits, discussions with state or local advocacy groups, and insights from the State Ombudsman program.
Further detailed information about the 5-Star Quality Rating System is available in the Five-Star Quality Rating System Technical Users’ Guide, accessible in the Downloads section of the CMS website. For direct access to compare nursing homes, the Nursing Home Care Compare website is provided in the Related Links section.
What’s New in the Rating System:
Updates in 2023: CMS issued memo QSO-23-05-NH on January 18, 2023, addressing adjustments to quality measure ratings due to incorrect schizophrenia coding and the public posting of citations under dispute. Audits of schizophrenia coding in Minimum Data Set data will be conducted, and star ratings will be adjusted for facilities with inaccurate coding. Furthermore, to enhance transparency, citations under informal dispute are now visible on the Nursing Home Care Compare website.
Updates in 2022: On January 7, 2022, QSOG Memo QSO-22-08-NH announced the addition of nursing home staff turnover and weekend staffing levels to Care Compare. This data was implemented on the Care Compare website in January 2022 and integrated into the Nursing Home Five-Star Quality Rating System calculations starting in July 2022.
Updates in 2020/2021: QSOG Memo QSO-21-06-NH, dated December 4, 2020, detailed updates to the Nursing Home Compare website and Five-Star Quality Rating System. Implemented in January 2021, these changes included the resumption of calculating health inspection and quality measure ratings on January 27, 2021.
In conclusion, the 5-star nursing home compare rating system is a valuable resource for initiating your search and comparison of nursing homes. While offering a standardized measure of quality, remember to consider it alongside other critical factors and resources to make the most informed decision for your specific circumstances. Utilize the Care Compare website and explore further information to ensure you find the best possible nursing home.
