Seeing Stars - A New Search Tool in Nursing Home Search

[Abstract]

How do you find a good nursing home when you need one? For many years, it was very difficult for families to find any information on quality measures, and had to rely solely on word of mouth from others. The Center for Medicaid and Medicare Services (CMS) recognized the need for more and better information, and created a new tool, called Nursing Home Compare.

Nursing Home Compare allows anyone to go online and look up a specific nursing home, or several different nursing homes in the same area and compare their ratings. The ratings are based on a 5 star system (5 being the highest), and report on quality measures, staffing levels, and state inspections.

• The quality measures are separated out between long term and short term patients. They provide information on the entire population in the nursing home so that the public receives an accurate overall picture of care, and not just the care of one or two people. The measures include the number of falls, bed sores, those who experience pain, weight loss and depression.

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