Rating area nursing homes
Consumers have a new tool for evaluating careBy CONNIE CARTMELL
MARIETTA - For Glenda Webber of Marietta, a new five-star nursing home rating system, enacted by the federal Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services in December, is just another tool for selecting a nursing home.
"I never heard about the ratings before now," Webber, 69, said. "It wouldn't be the only reason for making a decision on a nursing home. I'd want to make my own decision."
Under the five-star system, 22 percent of the nation's nearly 16,000 nursing homes received the lowest rating - one star, "much below average" - while 12 percent received the highest possible - five stars, "much above average."
Of Ohio's 945 nursing homes (also called assisted living facilities are not included), 90 received five stars, 203 got four stars, 192 had three stars, 182 received two stars and 278 were rated with one star.
Four Washington County facilities received one-star ratings, while Harmar Place got three stars, meaning "about average."
The new system is to help people in choosing a nursing home for their loved ones, according to Cinthia Michel, public affairs liaison with the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, Chicago regional office.
"It's a brand new tool, but we want consumers to know that this is only one tool for choosing a nursing home," Michel said. "Choices are individual. It may be that everything you see, you like, in a one-star-rated facility."
In Wood County, Camden-Clark Memorial Hospital, with a 25-bed facility, received four out of five stars as did Ohio Valley Health Care on Nicolette Road. Sunbridge on Gihon Road receieved five stars and the Willows Center on Summers Street earned three. Eagle Pointe on 27th Street and Worthington Manor at Core Road and 36th Street receieved a one-star rating.
Nursing home ratings are based on on-site health inspections, staffing and quality measures focusing on 10 aspects of care. The ratings will be updated on a quarterly basis.
"This time, a nursing home may be a one, but next time it may receive a three-star rating, based on new information," Michel said.
To be part of federal Medicare and Medicaid programs, nursing homes must meet certain requirements set by Congress. At all times, certified homes must meet more than 180 regulatory standards covering a wide range of topics from proper management of medications and protecting residents from physical and mental abuse and inadequate care to safe storage and preparation of food.
States also have their own standards. The Ohio Department of Health conducts an annual inspection of the state's nursing home facilities, and some of this data is included in the new federal rating system.
Each local facility had between seven and 20 citations in these inspections. None were considered harmful to patients or classified as substandard or indicating immediate jeopardy. Examples of issues for which citations were issued included failing to invite a resident to a quarterly care plan meeting at the Arbors and a sanitation violation for a washcloth not being picked up from a bathroom floor at Harmar Place, according to administrators.
The general public is mostly unaware of the new rating system, but beginning to hear about it.
The nursing home industry is already questioning the validity of the new government rating system. Administrators are most concerned that the ratings do not contain patient and family satisfaction surveys, which are a big part of evaluations of a facility.
"Currently, a consumer satisfaction survey is not one of the data sources used in developing the five-star rating system, but (it) may be in the future," Michel said.
In addition to the absence of satisfaction survey data, Rick Hindman with the Area Agency on Aging questions whether the ratings offer "apples-to-apples" comparisons of facilities in different states since each state has its own system for inspections, citations and the like.
"I don't know how they get a common denominator from all of that," he said.
Ratings can even differ within states. The Arbors and Heartland are part of a new state pilot program called the Quarterly Indicator Survey, which puts additional emphasis on inspections that other homes did not have.
Heartland says that is why their citations so high, and Arbors officials said their ranking would have been better if they had not been under the QIS scope.
Although Harmar Place received the highest local rating, facility administrator Sue Boulton has issues with the system.
"Our rating was based on incorrect information (a disputed incident in which the facility was found not at fault) and when we attempted to appeal that one situation, we were told there was nothing that could be done about it," she said.
Boulton calls the rating system "frustrating" and "worrisome."
"We did very well and have a good survey (inspection) history," she said. "We take a lot of pride in what we do."
CMS sees the new rating system as a way to challenge nursing homes to improve the care they provide to nearly 1.5 million residents nationwide.
Jane Darling, administrator at Muskingum Valley Nursing and Rehabilitation in Beverly, initially called the new rating system "disheartening." She said she wants to study the new system before making a final judgment.
"As a general idea, like so many, there is good and bad to it," Darling said. "It's very new for us now."
Darling is most concerned about the impact on staff, who work hard every day to care for patients, she said.
"I want families to have a tool (for selection) that is fair," she said. "Most of the nursing homes in this area are very good. They don't stay in business if they are not."
Nursing homes are the most regulated industry in the United States, even without the new rating system, Darling said.
Linda Dailey, administrator of Heartland of Marietta, urges patients and families to use the new rating system as one tool among many when choosing a nursing home.
In a written statement, Dailey said the system fails to differentiate between levels of care and services and does not measure the programs and services that go above and beyond "basic" care.
"I feel like it does not present a complete picture," she said.
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kmairken
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01-13-09 11:18 AM
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I have worked in two of these facilities as a nurse. I am not exactly sure how these ratings are obtained, but I definately would not use it to find a home for a loved one. Visit the facility, meet the management and staff, look around closely and see how many people are sitting in common areas in chairs unattended, and ask many questions.
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newflowerseeds
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01-13-09 8:26 AM
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This article should have listed the web site to go to if you want to compare and view the ratings of area nursing homes. Yo can go to ***********medicare.gov/Default.asp and then click on the link to New Nursing Home Five Star Quality Rating.
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