New Website Rates Nursing Homes
The U.S. Government has created a new website that provides quality ratings for each of the nation’s 16,000 Medicare and/or Medicaid nursing homes.
The website, Nursing Home Compare, rates each facility on a five-star rating in three critical areas: health inspection, quality measures, and staffing levels. The results are determined by a group of trained professionals who visit each nursing home to check on the quality of care, inspect medical records, and talk with residents about their care. An overall rating is also provided.
The user-friendly website allows visitors to search for nursing homes by name, city, county, state, and zip code. Once you’ve entered your search criteria, you can view, compare, and contrast different nursing homes and their ratings.
Other specific information that is available on the site includes: the date of the nursing home’s last health inspection, including any quality care or resident assessment deficiencies and whether they have been corrected, the total number of trained staff and residents on hand at a given time, and ratings on numerous quality and fire safety measures.
The website is designed to assist and educate visitors on nursing homes in and around their hometowns. It is advised that prospective nursing home patients and their family consult with their doctor or health care provider, as well as personally visit nursing homes and contact a Long-Term Care Ombudsman or State Survey Agency, before making a decision.
For more information on nursing homes, including Medicare’s “Guide To Choosing a Nursing Home” and “Your Rights as a Nursing Home Resident,” please visit: www.medicare.gov/NHCompare.
