Feds Launch New Nursing Home Comparison Website
August 2nd, 2012 tmccoy
The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) recently redesigned its nursing home comparison website to allow prospective residents and their families to navigate more efficiently and find important information such as data from nursing home inspections, ratings, and other quality measures.
It was reported that Shari M. Ling, MD, CMS’s Deputy Chief Medical Officer, stated, “Hospital Compare and Nursing Home Compare allow Americans to make side-by-side comparisons of the nursing homes and hospitals in their area on a diverse range of metrics. These can range from specific medical standards, such as how many people are taking the appropriate medications following a surgical procedure, to the levels of patient satisfaction with a facility.”
The website reportedly includes new information concerning the ownership of nursing homes. We believe this is important as recent reports have shown that “for profit” nursing homes are typically cited more often than “not for profit” nursing homes for regulatory and care violations.
Nursing Home Compare has also added specific findings from nursing home inspections, reports data on a nursing home’s use of anti-psychotic medications, and information as to the percentage of residents who report experiencing moderate to severe pain while staying in the nursing home.
In general, this website provides consumers with an overall general sense about prospective facilities, and is a useful tool when researching prospective facilities.
