Report: 1 in 5 Nursing Homes Get Low Stars

(CBS)  U.S. nursing homes don't all offer five-star quality under a rating system using stars to evaluate performance, according to an analysis by USA Today.

The newspaper found that one in five of the country's 15,700 nursing homes were found on the low end of the five-star scale started late during President George W. Bush's term.

The paper's analysis also found in the data that nearly all of the nursing homes awarded one or two stars are owned by for-profit corporations.

"We want to see improvements, but we don't expect a nursing home will jump to a five-star rating within a one-year time period," Medicare's Thomas Hamilton, who spearheaded the rating system's development, told USA Today.

One positive note Hamilton highlighted comparing annual data was the decrease in the number of one-star homes.

Nursing homes that received low scores in back-to-back years house more than 250,000 patients, according to Medicare data the newspaper analyzed. The stars reflect information collected through inspections, complaint investigations and other data from mostly 2008 and 2009.

"The issue is the owners have to take responsibility for the consequences" of poorly performing homes, Larry Minnix, CEO of American Association of Homes and Services for the Aging, told USA Today. He added that the rating system should include data for patient satisfaction.

Medicare spokeswoman Mary Kahn told the newspaper that a one-star nursing home didn't make it a terrible facility. Even those homes must satisfy basic Medicare requirements, she said.

The lowest-rated homes averaged 14 deficiencies per site, the newspaper's analysis found. Those deficiencies can include quality-of-life measures and safety violations.

[nursinghomehell]

Thanks for providing the URL for NCCNHR. My daughter is in a nursing home that had a 2 star rating last year. This year, they came up to a 4 star, in spite of a decrease in quality of care and food. This is her second "skilled" nursing facility. There is no such thing in America.

As I see more staff cuts and the quality of care reduced, I am seriously concerned about the 203,000 young people in nursing homes. My daughter was 27 when she was dumped into a nursing home with no possibility of rehabilitation. They looked at her as a continual paycheck. Reporting them to DHW and the governor was worthless. I had notes and pictures. They were given a pass on everything. The inspectors never even called me. I paid $2000 to gain custody of her so I could get her out of that gateway to hell.

She is in a second nursing home, now. I look forward to the day I can remove her. Caring for her at home has to be better than here. She has critical health needs and they do nothing to monitor her. The aides aren't trained for tracheas and PEGs or brittle diabetics. They just come in and turn off the light.

Sub-acute wings should be staffed for acuity, not general population census. each aide should have specialized training in the care of patients wiht critical needs. Instead, they send in the airheads.

[elderadvocate]

From what Larry Minnix says, it sounds like they've almost accepted this 5 star system. They've used their big money to lobby for the abandonment of this critical consumer tool. The industry continues to push for inclusion of "patient satisfaction" data. Problem is, they pay top dollar for these PR companies to go in and cherry pick residents and families to interview. Most nursing home residents are afraid to complain because they fear retaliation from the administrator and their staff. And rightly so. Americans need to express their outrage to their legislators about the way our nursing home residents are treated. You can help. Contact NCCNHR.org to learn what you can do to help improve things in nursing homes. These frail, elder people need you. Please, do something.