Nursing Home Rating System
The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) created the Five-Star Quality Rating System to more easily assist consumers, their families and caregivers to compare nursing homes. This system makes it more difficult for a facility to earn a four or five-star rating. Like a hotel, Denver nursing homes with five-star ratings have above average quality and homes with 1 star have quality greatly below average. A nursing home rating is rated based on the following three categories: Health Inspections, Staffing, and Quality Measures. Each of these categories have their own five-star rating. This rating system is important in helping you avoid any unsafe nursing homes when considering options for a loved one.
Health Inspections
This rating is based on information from the last three years of inspections — unannounced, onsite examinations. These assessments are conducted by trained, objective inspectors who follow a detailed process to determine if the home’s quality is in line with Medicaid and Medicare’s requirements.
The number and severity of home deficiencies determined from the onsite inspection affect the rating, along with findings from complaint investigations during the most recent 36 months.
A high amount of nursing home health complaints is a sign that you should stay away. If you are looking for a safe Colorado nursing home, make sure that it is properly equipped to take care of your loved ones.
Staffing
CMS bases the facility staff rating off of the average number of hours of care provided to each resident each day by nursing staff (registered nurse, licensed practical nurse and nurse aide). This measure is case adjusted for different levels of resident care needed.
It is important to look to look for qualified Colorado nursing home staff when evaluating a potential location. Well-trained nursing home staff can often be one of the most important parts of long-term care. By not having experienced nursing home staff looking after your loved one, you potentially may be exposing them to a lower standard of nursing home care.
Quality Measures
This measure addresses a range of function and health status indicators for both long-stay and short-stay residents. This offers information about how well nursing homes are caring for their residents’ physical and clinical needs.
If a Colorado nursing home is not able to provide this care, look elsewhere. Nursing home neglect in Colorado can appear in many different, and one of the most common forms is an inability for staff to take care of nursing home residents.
Overall Rating
This overall rating is a composite of the three individual star ratings above. The health inspection rating is adjusted up if the facility receives a very high staffing or quality measure rating, and is adjusted down for low staffing and quality measure ratings. This is the star rating that is displayed to the public.
If a nursing home is a Special Focus Facility, the maximum overall rating is 3 stars.
CMS hopes to raise the standards for nursing homes to achieve a high rating. Not all nursing homes are of the quality you suspect them to be. If you have put your loved one in a nursing home and suspect abuse or neglect, please contact an experienced attorney at McDivitt Law Firm today. We are here to help hold that nursing home accountable for its neglect or abuse. Learn more about mandatory reporting laws for elder abuse.
At medicare.gov you can go to the Nursing Home Compare page to look at nursing home ratings in your location. Read more about the 5-Star Quality Rating System by visiting CMS’s Technical Users’ Guide.
