Buckle UP All Who Rely ON The CMS Ratings for Nursing Homes

On this past Sunday, in the New York Times was a 2 and ¼ page article entitled: “To Lift Ratings, Nursing Homes Shroud Neglect”. Of course, I read every word of it, and it was mind blowing.

This blog is for all you older people who look at these rating for choosing a nursing home, and all the children of older parents who rely on these ratings. So, buckle up, here are the findings.

1. Most of the information submitted from nursing homes to the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) is not truthful. Nursing homes appear “safer and cleaner” than they are.

2. Nursing homes include in their staff people who are on vacation, thereby raising the staff to patient ratio. Also, many patients are on antipsychotics, and those statistics are understated. And the safety of nursing homes usually goes unreported, like accidents among patients.

3. Five-star quality of care nursing homes normally fail their in-person inspections as often as they master them. The CMS does not review the self-reporting of five-star nursing homes. In five-star homes, there were bed sores, abuse, and neglect, but reviewers rarely lowered their scores.

4. Some nursing homes know when the CMS will be inspecting them and then they raise their staffing to camouflage what is really going on.

Many nursing homes during the pandemic, were busy raising their ratings, but not their quality of care. This is concerning information. You now can see why over 130,000 nursing home residents died of Covid-19, according to the New York Times. In doing this report, the New York times looked at the elements encompassing the rating system. The CMS reviews over 15,000 nursing homes and measures, their quality, staffing and self-reported data from the nursing home.

Now that you understand the issues and rating system, what can you do to move forward? 

a. Visit the nursing homes in your area and speak with the staff and patients that reside there.

b. Be mindful of the smells, cleanliness, meals, activities and social aspects.

c. Asks friends and neighbors what facilities they have their parents in?

d. Inquire about bed sores, abuse and neglect. Do not be shy.

e. Inquire about wings in the nursing home, for Alzheimer patients, bedridden patients, and walking patients.

And please contact Health Advocate Experts at info@healthadvocateexperts.com.

We can certainly help you.