{"id":9546,"date":"2016-06-28T07:00:21","date_gmt":"2016-06-28T12:00:21","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.senioradvisor.com\/blog\/?p=9546"},"modified":"2020-10-14T08:42:09","modified_gmt":"2020-10-14T13:42:09","slug":"medicare-and-nursing-homes","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/d30braiqprupoq.cloudfront.net\/blog\/2016\/06\/medicare-and-nursing-homes\/","title":{"rendered":"Medicare and Nursing Homes"},"content":{"rendered":"

Medicare and Nursing Homes\"Medicare<\/h1>\n

Thanks to the internet you can find reviews and ratings for nearly any service, including nursing homes. Well-informed consumers know ratings and reviews are only as useful as the information they\u2019re based on. That\u2019s why it\u2019s important to understand the Medicare 5-star rating system, its strengths and weaknesses, and how user reviews can give you a clearer picture of what life in a given nursing home is really like.<\/p>\n

How Medicare rates nursing homes<\/h2>\n

Medicare rolled out its national star-based rating system for nursing homes<\/strong> <\/a>in 2008\u00a0to help families find quality care and avoid low-performing homes. The system uses three pieces of information to assign ratings of 1 to 5 stars: yearly health inspection reports, staffing numbers, and quality measures.<\/p>\n

Originally, nursing homes reported their staffing and quality measure information themselves without any independent review. By 2014, a New York Times<\/em> investigation<\/a><\/strong>\u00a0revealed flaws in this approach that could \u201cseriously mislead consumers, investors and others about conditions at the homes.\u201d<\/p>\n

In response, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services made changes<\/a><\/strong> to the way ratings data is gathered. Now nursing homes send their staffing data quarterly instead of\u00a0yearly, and the information is crosschecked with payroll records. Ratings now also factor in the number of residents taking antipsychotic medications, because these drugs have a history of overuse in dementia patients with agitation. The Kaiser Family Foundation says Medicare may make more improvements<\/a><\/strong> to the rating system in the future.<\/p>\n

Pros and cons of the Medicare 5-star rating system<\/h2>\n

Medicare spells out its rating system\u2019s strengths and weaknesses<\/a><\/strong> online. Among the plusses are comprehensive state health inspection data and federal inspection reviews, overall staffing data and staff-to-resident ratios, and a standardized national system for rankings.<\/p>\n

On the weaker side, the quality measures and staffing data are still reported by the homes (as noted above, staffing data is verified independently). The 5-star system is intended to be a national standard, but state-by-state Medicaid program and health inspection differences make it most useful when comparing homes in the same state. For these reasons, Medicare recommends<\/a><\/strong> using the 5-star quality ratings \u201ctogether with other sources of information.\u201d<\/p>\n

A more complete approach to choosing a nursing home<\/h2>\n

Health, staffing, and quality data are important, and so are insights from senior care experts, nursing home residents and their families. When your parent needs a nursing home, ask your parent\u2019s doctors, the social worker at their hospital, a local senior care referral specialist, and friends and neighbors for their recommendations. Listen to what current residents and their families have to say, too. You can do this during visits to homes on your list and you can check reviews online.<\/p>\n

Reviews give you information that yearly or even quarterly data updates can\u2019t offer. You can read recent insights on life in the homes you\u2019re considering and see if reviews are trending up, down, or staying the same. Verified reviews like those on SeniorAdvisor.com are checked for validity to give families reliable information. Nursing home administrators and owners can reply to reviews, and their responses show\u00a0families how they handle\u00a0compliments, complaints, and constructive criticism.<\/p>\n

To make the best decision for your loved one, combine verified resident reviews with government ratings, recommendations from people you trust, and your own visits to the homes you\u2019re considering. Want more information on choosing a quality nursing home? Read on<\/a><\/strong>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Medicare and Nursing Homes Thanks to the internet you can find reviews and ratings for nearly any service, including nursing homes. Well-informed consumers know ratings and reviews are only as useful as the information they\u2019re based on. That\u2019s why it\u2019s important to understand the Medicare 5-star rating system, its strengths and weaknesses, and how user reviews can give you a […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2198,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[200,5,2],"tags":[203,332,38],"class_list":{"0":"post-9546","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","6":"category-families-caregivers","7":"category-nursing-home","8":"category-senior-living","9":"tag-medicare","10":"tag-nursing-home-2","11":"tag-online-reviews-2"},"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nMedicare and Nursing Homes - SeniorAdvisor.com Blog<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Medicare and Nursing Homes. 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