Choosing a skilled nursing facility for yourself or a loved one is a significant decision. To assist in this process, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) has developed the Five-Star Quality Rating System. This system is designed to make it easier for consumers, families, and caregivers to compare skilled nursing facilities and identify important questions to ask when considering care options. The Nursing Home Care Compare website utilizes this rating system, assigning each facility an overall rating from 1 to 5 stars, with 5 stars indicating much above average quality and 1 star indicating much below average quality. These ratings also include separate assessments for health inspections, staffing levels, and quality measures, providing a comprehensive view of each facility’s performance.
While the Five-Star Quality Rating System offers a valuable tool for Skilled Nursing Facility Compare, it’s crucial to understand its limitations. No single rating system can encompass every factor important to individual needs. For example, specialized care requirements such as rehabilitation or dementia care, or the ease of family visits, are not directly reflected in the star ratings. The proximity of a facility to family and friends can significantly impact a resident’s quality of life and care, sometimes making a closer, slightly lower-rated facility a better choice than a higher-rated but distant option. Therefore, it is recommended to use the Care Compare website as one component of a thorough evaluation process. This process should also include facility visits and consultations with other resources, such as local advocacy groups and the State Ombudsman program. These additional steps will provide a more complete picture when you skilled nursing facility compare.
The Five-Star Quality Rating System Technical Users’ Guide, available for download, provides detailed information about the rating methodologies and calculations. Furthermore, the Nursing Home Care Compare website is an invaluable resource where you can directly find and skilled nursing facility compare options in your vicinity.
Recent Updates to the Skilled Nursing Facility Compare System
January 18, 2023: Addressing Coding Accuracy and Transparency
CMS issued QSOG Memo QSO-23-05-NH to address adjustments in quality measure ratings due to inaccuracies in schizophrenia coding. To ensure data integrity, CMS will conduct audits of schizophrenia coding within the Minimum Data Set. Facilities found to have inaccurate coding may have their Nursing Home Care Compare quality measure star ratings adjusted accordingly. In a move towards greater transparency, citations currently under informal dispute will now be visible on the Nursing Home Care Compare website. This allows for a more comprehensive understanding when you skilled nursing facility compare.
January 7, 2022: Incorporating Staff Turnover and Weekend Staffing Levels
QSOG Memo QSO-22-08-NH announced the inclusion of staff turnover rates and weekend staffing levels within the Care Compare system. This enhancement, implemented on the Care Compare website in January 2022 and integrated into the Five-Star Quality Rating System in July 2022, provides users with critical insights into staffing stability and consistency when they skilled nursing facility compare.
December 4, 2020: Enhancements to Nursing Home Compare Website and Rating System
QSOG Memo QSO-21-06-NH detailed updates to the Nursing Home Compare website and the Five-Star Quality Rating System, implemented in January 2021. Notably, CMS resumed calculating health inspection and quality measure ratings on January 27, 2021, ensuring the continued provision of up-to-date information for those looking to skilled nursing facility compare.
By understanding the CMS Five-Star Quality Rating System and utilizing the Nursing Home Care Compare website, alongside other due diligence steps, you can confidently skilled nursing facility compare and make informed decisions about long-term care.
