California Has the Most Five-Star Nursing Homes in the U.S.
California had the largest number of five-star facilities on a 2015 ranking of nursing homes released on Thursday by U.S. News & World Report.
Details of Rankings
For the rankings, U.S. News used data from CMS' Nursing Home Compare website, which considers findings from health inspections, evaluations of the nursing staff and performance on quality measures.
The publication awarded "Best Nursing Home" status to facilities that earned the agency's five stars (Comarow, U.S. News & World Report, 3/5).
Findings
California had the most five-star facilities, with 388 receiving an overall score of five stars (U.S. News rankings, 3/5). States with the next-highest numbers of five-star facilities were Ohio, Florida, Illinois and Texas.
Overall, 21.7% of nursing homes -- or 3,392 homes overall -- this year earned the "Best Nursing Home" designation, down from 24.9% last year.
U.S. News attributed the decrease to changes made to the federal rating system last month (U.S. News release, 3/5).
In February, the federal government revised how it evaluates nursing homes in a way that makes it harder for facilities to receive top scores. Under the adjusted ratings, the government expects facilities to earn a minimum of three stars of ratings related to staffing levels for registered nurses, licensed practical nurses and certified nursing assistants. Sufficient staffing in these areas is related to fewer medication errors and lower incidence of patient complications.
In addition, the ratings now include quality measures about appropriate use of antipsychotic medications. Such medications often are given to elderly dementia patients. Further, CMS said it will increase its use of on-site visits by state survey agencies as a way to assess the information the facilities report (California Healthline, 2/24).
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