Nursing Home Quality Information for Consumers

Article submitted by the Seniors Resource Guide staff.

The Nursing Home Quality Initiative is an effort of the Department of Health and Human Services, Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS). This is a campaign to improve the quality of care in nursing homes by publicly reporting quality measures on every Medicare certified nursing home in every state. Updated quality information can currently be found on the Nursing Home Compare section of Medicare's website, www.medicare.gov.

The Nursing Home Quality Initiative offers important health care information, allowing Consumers to assess the performance of the state's 225 nursing homes. People can see quality information including:

• The percentage of residents who need more help doing daily activities
• The percentage of residents with pressure (bed) sores
• The percentage of residents who lost too much weight
• The percentage of residents with pain
• The percentage of residents with infections
• The percentage of residents in physical restraints
• The percentage of short stay residents (those in the nursing home fewer than 90 days) with pain
• The percentage of short stay residents who improved in walking
• The percentage of short stay residents with delirium

By visiting www.medicare.gov Nursing Home Compare or calling 1-800-MEDICARE, consumers and caregivers can research additional quality measures. Information such as how many beds are available in the facility, the latest state nursing home inspection results, and how many registered nurses and doctors are on staff is available.

Choosing a nursing home is an important decision and consumers should use Medicare's nursing home quality information as an additional resource in the decision-making process. Visiting a nursing home and talking with the staff and others with personal experience is suggested. Medicare provides helpful tips and important questions to ask on the website and for those that call 1-800-MEDICARE. With this information, consumers will be able to make more informed decisions about their nursing home.