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Five Changes to the Five-Star Nursing Home Rating System
The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) created the Five-Star Quality Rating System to help consumers compare nursing homes more easily and to guage the quality of care for Medicare or Medicaid program participants.
- Nationwide Focused Survey Inspections—CMS and individual states will implement survey inspections designed to enhance verification of both the staffing and QM information that is part of the Five-Star Quality Rating System.
- Payroll-based Staffing Reporting—CMS will implement a system of quarterly electronic reporting that is intended to increase accuracy, improve data timeliness and allow for the calculation of QMs for staff turnover, retention, types of staffing and levels of different types of staffing.
- Revised Scoring Methodology—CMS will revise the scoring methodology used to calculate each facility’s Five-Star rating, placing more emphasis on data that is verified by independent sources, rather than data that is self-reported by nursing homes.
- Additional Quality Measures—CMS will increase both the number and type of QMs used on Nursing Home Compare, such as one that measures the extent to which antipsychotic medications are used.
- More Consumer Friendly—The updated website will be easier for consumers and families to use, add concrete steps for consumers to take to find the best long-term care choice to meet their needs and include information on Alternatives to Nursing Home.
Provide residents and their families with an assessment of nursing home quality
Make a distinction between high- and low-performing nursing homes
Provide incentives for nursing homes to improve their performance.
Nursing home star ratings are publicly available on the Nursing Home Compare website.
There is an overall five-star rating for each nursing home and a separate rating for onsite health inspections, staffing and quality measures (QMs).
The Star ratings:
5 = Much Above Average
4 = Above Average
3 = Average
2 = Below Average
1 = Much Below Average
atom Alliance is focused on helping nursing homes increase their nursing home star ratings. Learn more.
