Federal officials raised the standards used in nursing homes on Friday, resulting in a drop in the quality ratings of about one-third of the nursing homes in different states.
The change on one of the three major criteria used to rank more than 15,000 nursing homes in the country was made after several consumers criticized the ratings for being erroneous and exaggerated. The officials based the adjustment of data collected from each resident as families are confused that the quality care posted on the Nursing Home Compare website does not match the actual. About 1.4 million people visited the site last year to check facility ratings.
"Anytime that nearly a third of an entire sector is impacted by a change of this magnitude, there will be confusion," Mark Parkinson, the chief executive of the American Health Care Association, told the New York Times. "We're not helping patients and their families get the information they can trust when the star rankings don't match the quality care being delivered."
Prior to the change, about 80 percent of the nursing homes were receiving either a 4 or 5-star rating. The number dropped to 61 percent while the nursing homes that have a one-star rating increased by 28 percent. Only 341 homes, or 2.3 percent, moved up on the rating scale, according to the analysis of USA TODAY.
The change in the five-star rating standards was received positively by the consumers, despite it being long overdue. Nursing residents and their families are now expecting improvement. The use of anti-psychotic drugs has been added to the existing measurements- performance on state inspections, staffing levels and quality of care.
"High rates of antipsychotic use can indicate serious care problems, because they're using them (to drug residents), instead of having adequate staffing and truly meeting residents' needs," Robyn Grant, director of public policy and advocacy at the National Consumer Voice for Quality Long-Term Care, an advocacy group for nursing home residents, told USA TODAY.
Raising the bar of quality standards for nursing homes is just a start, as CBS Local reported that lawmakers in Missouri are now pushing to have cameras installed in the facilities to prevent abuse and neglect of the residents.
