Choosing the right nursing home for yourself or a loved one is a significant decision. To assist with this process, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) developed the Nursing Home Compare website and the Five-Star Quality Rating System. This system is designed to provide consumers, families, and caregivers with an accessible way to compare nursing homes based on quality indicators, helping to identify facilities that deserve closer consideration and further inquiry.
The cornerstone of this initiative is the Nursing Home Care Compare website. This platform assigns each nursing home an overall quality rating ranging from 1 to 5 stars. A 5-star rating signifies “much above average” quality, while a 1-star rating indicates “much below average” quality. Beyond the comprehensive 5-star rating, the system also provides distinct ratings in key areas: health inspections, staffing levels, and quality measures. These separate ratings offer a more granular view of a facility’s performance in critical aspects of care.
It’s crucial to understand that while the CMS Five-Star Quality Rating System is a valuable tool, it is not exhaustive. No rating system can capture every factor that contributes to the ideal nursing home choice for an individual. For example, the system does not explicitly rate specialized care offerings, such as dedicated rehabilitation programs or dementia care units. Furthermore, practical considerations like proximity to family for frequent visits – which significantly enhance a resident’s well-being and care quality – are not directly factored into the star ratings. A nursing home closer to family, even with a slightly lower rating, might be a better choice than a higher-rated but geographically distant facility.
Therefore, consumers are encouraged to utilize the Nursing Home Care Compare website as one component of a comprehensive research process. It should be used in conjunction with other information sources, including direct visits to prospective nursing homes, consultations with state or local advocacy groups, and engagement with the State Ombudsman program. These additional steps can provide a more complete and nuanced understanding of a nursing home’s suitability.
For those seeking a deeper dive into the methodology behind the ratings, CMS provides the Five-Star Quality Rating System Technical Users’ Guide. This guide offers detailed explanations of the rating calculations and the specific measures used in the system.
Recent Updates to CMS Nursing Home Compare
Stay informed about the latest enhancements and adjustments to the Nursing Home Compare system:
January 18, 2023 Update:
CMS issued QSOG Memo QSO-23-05-NH addressing adjustments to quality measure ratings due to inaccuracies in schizophrenia coding and the public posting of citations under dispute. To ensure data integrity, CMS will conduct audits of schizophrenia coding within the Minimum Data Set (MDS). Facilities identified with inaccurate coding through these audits will have their Nursing Home Care Compare quality measure star ratings adjusted accordingly. In a move towards greater transparency, Nursing Home Care Compare now displays citations that are under informal dispute.
January 7, 2022 Update:
QSOG Memo QSO-22-08-NH, focusing on Nursing Home Staff Turnover and Weekend Staffing Levels, was released. This update signifies the inclusion of staff turnover rates and weekend staffing levels as new measures on Care Compare. This information became visible on the Care Compare website in January 2022 and was integrated into the Nursing Home Five-Star Quality Rating System calculations starting in July 2022, providing users with critical insights into staffing stability and weekend care capacity.
December 4, 2020 Update:
QSOG Memo QSO-21-06-NH, Updates to the Nursing Home Compare website and Five-Star Quality Rating System, detailed changes implemented in January 2021. Notably, CMS resumed the calculation of nursing homes’ Health Inspection and Quality Measure ratings on January 27, 2021, ensuring the continued provision of up-to-date performance data.
