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Ratings reveal Washington County nursing home scores

MARIETTA — National Nursing Home Week wrapped up May 20 and the theme “Spirit of America” speaks to the bond between residents, staff and volunteers.

“It is very important to recognize the people who work with our aging population because soon there will be more of them than there are people taking care of them,” said Beverley Laubert, long-term care ombudsman for the Ohio Department of Aging.

Muskingum Skilled Nursing & Rehabilitation in Beverly was celebrating its staff and community in honor of National Nursing Home week. It didn’t hurt that they were one of the highest rated facilities locally, according to the most recent 5-star report data from Medicare.gov.

“We strive very hard every day to be a facility this community can be proud of,” said Amy Knapp, director of admissions and marketing.

The number of people going into the long-term care field is on a downward trend, according to data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics. But Laubert hopes that encouraging involvement and offering training in engaging on a personal level with patients will add to the quality of the work experience and, hopefully, reverse the trend.

There will be a new program implemented in participating nursing homes in the 12 geographic regions of the state, according to Laubert, designed to deal with the high turnover that many facilities are seeing.

“It’s all about empowering the staff, and the direct care aides especially, allowing them to give feedback and sit in on meetings,” she said.

For consumers looking for a nursing home for themselves or a loved one, there are a couple ways to compare the quality of care from facility to facility.

The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) keeps track of how nursing homes are doing in four categories: Quality measures, health inspections, staffing and an overall rating.

The data comes from three sources, including CMS’s health inspection database, a national database known as the Minimum Data Set (MDS) and Medicare claims data.

Quality measures include percentage of long-stay residents experiencing one or more falls with major injury, percentage of long-stay residents with a urinary tract infection, percentage of long-stay residents who were physically restrained and percentage of long-stay residents who lose too much weight, among other factors.

Staffing includes, but is not limited to, number of licensed nurses on staff or registered nurse visits per day and length of time for physical therapy.

Health inspections include complaints of mistreatment, resident assessment, nutrition and dietary needs being met and more.

A second source of information comes directly from the patients and families themselves in the form of satisfaction surveys. This information is reported periodically through the Long-term Care Consumer Guide through the Ohio Department of Aging. Laubert said the information available through these organizations is as up-to-date as possible with cooperation of the facilities.

Family Satisfaction Survey Scores reflect the opinions of family members of nursing home residents at a point in time and provide clues for evaluating a home for yourself or your family or friend. Resident Satisfaction Survey Scores reflect the perceptions of nursing home and residential care (assisted living) facility residents gathered through face-to-face surveys.

Only two of the five facilities listed in Washington County have a 3-star overall rating with Medicare and three have a 1-star rating overall. The factors that go into determining the overall rating include the health and fire safety inspections and staffing and quality measures, with health inspection reports carrying the most weight.

The Arbors at Marietta has a “much below average” rating in health inspections. When asked to comment, administrator Rebecca Moore declined and immediately hung up the phone.

Laubert said those at nursing homes should be willing to talk about the ratings with the public.

“The wrong answer is that they dispute the findings or think the way it’s measured is not good,” she said. “That means they aren’t taking it seriously. What you should hear is how they are working to make changes for the better.”

Laubert said, if anything, facilities should use the information to continually evaluate themselves in an effort to have continuous quality improvement.

Peter Van Runkle, executive director of the Ohio Health Care Association, of which facilities in Washington County are members, said there are flaws in the 5-star rating system.

“The largest component of the system is the survey and it’s subjective,” he said. “Five-star tends to add emphasis to isolated incidents for one particular patient.”

Van Runkle, who helped devise the Long-term Consumer Care Guide, said the patient and family surveys are a much better indicator of quality of care. Results can be accessed through ltc.ohio.gov.

“The state does publish and make available to providers the results from each individual question to help them see what they’re doing right and what they need to do better,” he said.

Harmar Place scored three stars overall, the highest being for staffing. The family satisfaction survey was 83.75 and patient satisfaction survey was 89.1. Administrator Sue Boulton did not return a call for comment. The facility is a nonprofit nursing home owned by United Church Homes.

Christopher Jonas, administrator for Heartland of Marietta, a for-profit facility, also did not return a call for comment. Heartland received an overall rating of 1 star and scored much below average in health inspections, below average in staffing and above average in quality measures.

The lowest rated area nursing home, according to Medicare.gov, is Marietta Center, which received straight 1 stars. Administrator Kelli Love was unavailable for comment.

The last standard health inspection was on April 28, 2016. One finding of the inspection report showed that based on observation, staff interview and policy review, the facility staff failed to ensure (that) respect and dignity was maintained during dining. This affected one resident. Another observation noted that a resident fell in his room on April 2, 2016, resulting in a fracture and the family and physician were not notified of the fall until April 5, 2016.

Full reports of all local nursing homes can be found at medicare.gov/nursinghomecompare. Nursing Home Compare has detailed information about every Medicare and Medicaid-certified nursing home in the country. A nursing home is different from an assisted living facility in that nursing home patients are in need of a greater level of constant care. Assisted living facilities are also rated through the state but the reports are separate.

One of the better rated nursing homes, Muskingum Skilled Nursing and Rehabilitation in Beverly, scored 4 stars, or above average, in quality and staffing, which boosted their overall rating to 3 stars.

“I like both types of reports,” Knapp said. “But I do encourage people to come in, see what we’re about.”

Robin Collins, social services coordinator at the O’Neill Center, agrees that touring a facility is probably the best way to learn.

“A lot of older people aren’t online so they don’t see these reports,” she said. “I always say there is no substitute for paying a visit. Go unannounced, during peak times such as meals and bedtime, and go several times before making a decision.”

***

Arbors at Marietta, 400 Seventh St.

Medicare Nursing Home Compare

Overall rating: 1 star (much below average)

Health inspections: 1 star (much below average)

Staffing: 4 stars (above average)

Quality measures: 1 star (much below average)

Ohio Agency on Aging

Family survey: NA Patient survey: 73.15

***

Heartland of Marietta, 5001 State Route 60

Medicare Nursing Home Compare

Overall: 1 star (much below average)

Health inspections: 1 star (much below average)

Staffing: 2 stars (below average)

Quality measures: 4 stars (above average)

Ohio Agency on Aging

Family survey: Too few respondents Patient survey: NA

***

Marietta Center, 117 Bartlett St.

Medicare Nursing Home Compare

Overall: 1 star (much below average)

Health inspections: 1 star (much below average)

Staffing: 1 star (much below average)

Quality measures: 1 star (much below average)

Ohio Agency on Aging

Family survey: 68.68 Patient survey: 81.4

***

Harmar Place, 401 Harmar St.

Medicare Nursing Home Compare

Overall: 3 stars (average)

Health inspections: 2 stars (below average)

Staffing: 4 stars (above average)

Quality measures: 3 stars (average)

Ohio Agency on Aging

Family survey: 83.75 Patient survey: 89.1

***

Muskingum Skilled Nursing & Rehabilitation, Beverly

Medicare Nursing Home Compare

Overall: 3 stars (average)

Health inspections: 2 stars (below average)

Staffing: 4 stars (above average)

Quality measures: 4 stars (above average)

Ohio Agency on Aging

Family survey: 80.6 Patient survey: 76.3

Sources: Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, Ohio Agency on Aging

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