As a Sarasota nursing home abuse lawyer, I am often asked the following questions: How can I tell if a nursing home in Florida is any good? Are Florida nursing homes rated by the government or some other organization? Without a doubt, determining whether a nursing home is “good” presents a big challenge.
And yes, there are tools designed to help consumers compare nursing homes. One such tool was developed by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS). CMS, after all, is the federal agency that pays for the vast majority of all nursing home care in the United States. In an effort to help consumers, CMS developed a rating system called the Five Star Quality Rating System.
This system analyzes nursing home data in order to arrive at a rating for a nursing home from one to five stars. CMS looks at data derived from three main areas: the nursing home’s health inspections, nursing home staffing, and the so-called quality measures reported for a nursing home. A more detailed explanation of CMS’ Five Star Quality Rating System for nursing homes may be viewed on its website at http://tinyurl.com/rvpeynxx
How Nursing Home Corporations “Game” the rating System
CMS intended for its rating system to help consumers faced with the challenge of selecting a nursing home for their loved one. It did not take long for some nursing home corporations, however, to figure out how to cheat in order to boost their ratings. The most significant problem with CMS’ system is that a nursing home’s rating is largely based on self-reported data. One form of nursing home misconduct I have seen is when a nursing home corporation underreports bad things that are happening in its facility and exaggerates the amount of staffing it has available to assist residents with their activities of daily living, perform patient assessments and to supervise the facility as a whole. If a nursing home underreports the number of infections, falls, bed sores and other health concerns, its rating could fraudulently skew to the upside.
Another problem with the rating system is that it is retrospective in nature. The data collected, in other words, is not necessarily recent. For instance, CMS takes health inspection data into account going back in time up to three years. A lot can change in three years. Annually, staff turnover in most nursing homes is quite high. This can greatly impact the continuity of resident care delivered. Also, nursing home facilities are routinely bought and sold. This, too, can have a major impact on the quality of care provided to a facility’s seniors.
Trust Your Senses, Not the “Five Star” Rating
Multiple in-person visits at a facility are a better way to gauge the quality of care in any given nursing home. It is important to visit the same facility at different times of day and to use all of your senses in the evaluation process. Things to consider include:
How does the nursing home smell? Does it appear to be clean? Look under the beds. Are the floors clean? How do the residents appear? Can you hear residents yelling out for help? How does the staff appear? Can you obtain a sense of staff member morale? Are there any other family members present who you could speak with to obtain their opinion on the facility? Are meals served on time? How is the food? Is ample water available and accessible to the residents? How does the staff interact with the residents? Are they courteous? Does staff take the time to get residents dressed and out of bed in the morning? Does there appear to be an abundance of staff in the facility each time you visit? If you see many residents parked in wheelchairs around the nursing station, this could be indicative of several things: the facility may be understaffed, a lack of supervision and assistance may have led to a lot of recent resident falls, and the facility may have a higher number of residents with behavioral disturbances. Do not be afraid to ask staff and administration tough questions during these visits.
The reality is that neglect and abuse may arise in any nursing home – even the most highly rated facilities. The bottom line is that, if you want to find the best nursing home for your loved one, you should rely on your own senses and not the number of stars it has.
Have Questions about nursing home abuse and neglect?
I have helped families fight to obtain accountability and justice against nursing home corporations in Sarasota County for nearly thirty years. If you have concerns that a loved one may have suffered from neglect and abuse in a Florida nursing home, please feel free to call me for a free, confidential consultation at (941) 485-7600. James Keim, Florida Nursing Home Abuse Lawyer. For more information, visit our website at https://venicelawfirm.com/