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CCH® Medicare — 6/25/08

CMS to rate nursing home quality on "five-star" system

CMS will launch a new ranking system based on a "star" rating system to help patients and their families make an informed assessment of the care provided at nursing homes. The ratings will be posted on CMS' Nursing Home Compare website by the end of the year. This "five star" rating system is similar to one launched last year that rates health and prescription drug plans available to Medicare beneficiaries.

It is estimated that approximately three million Americans will use the services provided by a nursing home sometime during the year. Kerry Weems, CMS acting administrator said, "The new 'five-star' rating system will provide a composite view of quality and safety information currently on the Nursing Home Compare website to help beneficiaries, their families and caregivers, compare nursing homes more easily."

Consumer Information

This is the first time CMS will be offering such a rating system for the fee-for-service, or traditional Medicare program. The current method of quality reporting through the Compare website assists beneficiaries and their families by providing information on individual measures of quality of care, staffing and survey home inspection information. Also under consideration, is the addition of new information such as whether the nursing home specializes in caring for patients with dementia, on ventilators, or is in need of specialized rehabilitation services.

The "five star" rating program is part of CMS' continuing efforts to offer more and better information on the quality, patient satisfaction, and cost of care. This rating system is very similar to CMS' first nationwide identification of chronically underperforming nursing homes. The nursing homes were identified and enrolled in the Special Focus Facility (SFF) initiative where they are subjected to special scrutiny and double the number of inspections as other homes.

Specific information regarding the quality rating system will be available after June 22 at http://www.cms.hhs.gov/SurveyCertificationGenInfo/02_HotTopics.asp#TopOfPage. A national Open Door Forum conference call be held on June 24, 2008, where more information will be made available. The "five-star" rating will begin publication in December 2008.

Source: CMS Release, June 18, 2008.

For more information on this and related topics, consult the CCH® Medicare and Medicaid Guide.

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