Personal Injury Law

Nursing Home Quality Ratings

Abuse of elderly and disabled persons is one of the most disturbing matters our Atlanta based attorneys see. A report issued last Thursday by the Centers for Medicare and Services has revealed that almost 22 percent of the nation's nearly 16,000 nursing homes received the federal government's lowest rating in a new five-star system, while 12 percent received the highest ranking possible.

The new star ranking system has not been well received by the nursing home industry. It has been criticized for being too simplistic for a complicated care system. However, federal officials see the new rating system as a way to challenge nursing homes to improve the care they provide to nearly 1.5 million patients nationwide.

Under the new system, five stars means a nursing home ranks ''much above average,'' four star indicates ''above average,'' three means ''about average,'' two is ''below average'' with a one indicating ''much below average.'' The rankings will be updated quarterly.

The ratings are based on three major criteria: state inspections, staffing levels and quality measures, such as the percentage of residents with bed sores. The nursing homes will receive stars for each of those categories as well as for their overall quality.

Consumer advocates have warned that consumers should consider the star ratings, but not solely rely on them when comparing facilities. They have concerns that that nursing homes may appear in the ratings to give better care than they actually do.

The Centers For Medicare and Services used three year's worth of inspections to rate nursing homes based on an annual survey designed to measure how well homes protect the health and safety of their residents. The measurement for staffing reports the number of hours of nursing and other staff dedicated per patient each day. The measurement for quality looks at 10 areas, including the percent of patients with bed sores after their first 90 days in the nursing home and the number of residents whose mobility worsened after admission.

States with the highest percentage of nursing homes with a one-star ranking were: Louisiana, 39.6 percent; Georgia, 32.4 percent; Virginia, 32.4 percent; and Tennessee, 30.9 percent.

States with the highest percentage of homes with five stars were: Delaware, 30.2 percent; Alaska, 26.7 percent; New Hampshire, 24.4 percent; and Hawaii, 23.9 percent.

Full post as published by Georgia Injury Lawyer Blog on December 21, 2008 (boomark / email).