If you or someone you know is faced with the challenging task of finding a long-term care facility for a loved one, at times it can be difficult to know where to begin. Several websites have been designed so consumers can assess how individual facilities stack up.
Nursing Home Compare
Nursing Home Compare, run by the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, is perhaps one of the most well-known resources that rates care facilities by providing a star-ranking system. Through the website, up to three nursing homes can be compared side-by-side regarding overall rating, general information, health inspections, fire safety inspections, staffing, quality of resident care and penalties.
While this method is a good starting point, a few of the websites listed below provide additional information to rate facilities.
U.S. News & World Report
Did you know that U.S. News & World Report also shares an annual report of over 15,000 nursing homes across the country through their Nursing Home Finder tool? Their ratings, which include Poor, Below Average, Average, Above Average and Top Performing, are easily comparable with Nursing Home Compare’s 1 through 5 star-ranking system, so you can see if the data on both sites match up. Nursing homes that are deemed Top Performing receive the title of “Best Nursing Home,” which is denoted by a gold ribbon on the website.
U.S. News & World Report began assessing the quality and overall care provided at nursing homes in 2009 by reporting the same statistics found on CMS’ website. However, in 2016, the news organization decided to implement its own grading system to assess the homes in a more detailed manner.
Primarily, they began focusing on three means of measurement: the level of rehabilitation provided to patients, the averages of monthly data collected over a year and medical quality measures.
Tennessee Department of Health
In addition to utilizing Nursing Home Compare and the annual statistics provided by U.S. News & World Report, the Tennessee Department of Health has made facility surveys, complaints and inspections available to the public.
Though the site – Facility Survey Inspection Findings – does not provide a star-ranking system, it does provide an extensive list of nursing homes throughout the state of Tennessee, along with any complaints, inspection findings, licensures and recertification processes that have taken place in recent years.
Even Top Rated Nursing Homes Should Still Be Looked Into
Though the tools listed above are helpful when determining the best possible place for a loved one, it should be noted that even top ranking homes are prone to problems. Several of the “Best Nursing Homes” on the U.S. News & Word Report’s 2017-2018 list are homes with which we currently have open cases.
Despite raving reviews, we highly encourage you to visit the nursing home for yourself and talk with staff members and current residents, if possible, before making a decision. Most importantly, stay vigilant once a loved one is in a nursing home to help ensure abuse and neglect remain at bay.
If you suspect nursing home abuse and neglect is affecting someone you love, please contact us via our website for a free consultation, or call us at (901) 322-4232, where we have staff on hand, ready and able to assist you. We have years of experience successfully helping our clients recover funds for mistreatment, and we would be glad to have the opportunity to come alongside you and help in any way we can.