The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) developed the Nursing Home Five-Star Quality Rating System to empower individuals, families, and caregivers in making informed decisions about nursing home care. This system, accessible through the Nursing Home Care Compare website, offers a user-friendly platform to evaluate and compare nursing homes based on a star rating system. Ranging from one to five stars, these ratings provide a quick visual assessment of a nursing home’s overall quality, with five stars indicating “much above average” quality and one star signifying “much below average.”
This rating system provides an overall 5-star rating for each nursing home, alongside distinct ratings in critical areas such as health inspections, staffing levels, and quality measures. Delving into these specific categories allows for a more nuanced understanding of a facility’s strengths and weaknesses.
However, it’s crucial to recognize the limitations of any rating system. The CMS Nursing Home Compare tool serves as a valuable starting point, but it cannot encompass every factor pertinent to choosing the ideal nursing home for an individual. Personal considerations such as specialized care requirements (like dementia or rehabilitation services) and the convenience of location for family visits are equally important. Proximity can significantly impact the frequency of visits, which are vital for a resident’s well-being and the quality of care they receive.
Therefore, while the Nursing Home Care Compare website offers an invaluable resource, it should be utilized in conjunction with other research methods. Direct visits to potential nursing homes, consultations with state and local advocacy groups, and engagement with the State Ombudsman program are highly recommended to gather a holistic view and make the most suitable choice.
For those seeking a deeper understanding of the rating system’s intricacies, the Five-Star Quality Rating System Technical Users’ Guide is available for download. This guide provides comprehensive details on the rating methodologies and calculations.
To begin your search and comparison of nursing homes, visit the Nursing Home Care Compare website, a link to which is readily available in the resources section.
Recent Updates to Nursing Home Compare
January 18, 2023: Addressing Schizophrenia Coding and Citation Transparency
CMS issued QSOG Memo QSO-23-05-NH to address concerns regarding inaccurate schizophrenia coding and to enhance transparency in citation reporting. Recognizing potential discrepancies in schizophrenia coding within Minimum Data Set (MDS) data, CMS is conducting audits. Facilities found to have inaccurate coding may have their Nursing Home Care Compare quality measure star ratings adjusted to reflect these findings.
In a move towards greater transparency, CMS now publicly displays citations that are under informal dispute on the Nursing Home Care Compare website. This provides users with a more complete picture of a nursing home’s regulatory compliance history.
January 7, 2022: Integrating Staff Turnover and Weekend Staffing Metrics
QSOG Memo QSO-22-08-NH announced the inclusion of staff turnover rates and weekend staffing levels as new measures on Care Compare. This enhancement, implemented on the Care Compare website in January 2022 and incorporated into the Five-Star Quality Rating System in July 2022, offers valuable insights into staffing stability and weekend care capacity within nursing homes. Higher staff turnover can sometimes indicate instability, while robust weekend staffing is crucial for consistent care delivery.
December 4, 2020: Resumption of Health Inspection and Quality Measure Ratings
QSOG Memo QSO-21-06-NH detailed updates to the Nursing Home Compare website and Five-Star Quality Rating System. Notably, CMS resumed the calculation of nursing homes’ Health Inspection and Quality Measure ratings on January 27, 2021. This update ensured the continued provision of current and relevant data within the rating system, empowering users with the latest information for their decision-making process.
