Nursing Home Ratings

Nursing home ratings provide information about the quality of nursing homes throughout the United States. Nursing home ratings may be available through government, private company, or consumer watchdog groups and have specific criteria on which nursing home ratings are based. Nursing home ratings can be a valuable tool to patients and families who are in the process of choosing a nursing home facility.
Nursing home ratings can provide crucial information about a number of aspects related to a nursing home facility. Nursing home ratings also provide a standard by which nursing home facility comparisons can be made. Nursing home ratings are important as the risk of nursing home abuse is widespread in our nation.
At least thirty percent of all nursing homes in the United States have been found guilty of committing significant acts of nursing home abuse against the patients under their care. One nursing home ratings system indicates that only twelve percent of all nursing homes have been inspected by the government and not found in breech of federal law.
The Federal Nursing Home Care Reform Act of 1987 is a comprehensive law which created a set of minimum standards of care that nursing home facilities must meet. Under this law, each state is responsible for inspecting all state nursing homes every nine to fifteen months. These unannounced investigations are designed to measure staffing, quality of care, and cleanliness standards in the nursing homes. There are at least 150 different points on which a facility is graded during a state inspection. The results of state inspections are considered public information and are used to determine nursing home ratings.
Nursing home ratings can take a number of factors into account when evaluating the quality of a nursing home. Some nursing home ratings systems provide interested parties with information about state inspection results, complaint investigations, repeating problems, and other general information about a nursing home facility. Inspections and compliant reports from government sources indicate the type of abuse committed, the extent of the abuse, and what is being done to remedy the problem, all of which can be factored into nursing home ratings.
Some nursing home ratings groups have also compiled lists of nursing homes to be wary of as well as those that have received outstanding nursing home ratings. These can be accessed by any individual who seeks this information.
Many nursing home ratings are available to the public for free. Other nursing home ratings reports compiled by private organizations may request a small fee for access to their more comprehensive nursing home ratings reports. If you would like to receive information about nursing home ratings, your state's nursing home investigation agency may be a good place to start.