How to Compare Nursing Home Quality Measures

Nursing homes play an important role in the health care of individuals unable to care for themselves. Choosing a nursing home may be a difficult task, but with the right information you can make an informed choice. Quality measures report information about resident care, mental status and health. The information is furnished by nursing homes to Medicare, which breaks the information down further: percent of residents who have received a flu shot, have pressure sores, are in pain and lose too much weight. These are just some of the quality measures that are listed on Medicare.gov.

Instructions

• 1

  Look into nursing homes in your area or area of interest. Ask family or friends if they've had experience with a nursing home they would refer you to and make a list.

• 2

  Research your nursing home list at Medicare.gov. Enter a search by name, ZIP, city, state or county.

• 3

  Compare each nursing home's overall rating, health inspection, nursing home staffing, and quality measures ratings. Each category rates up to five stars. After you've made your selections, view health inspections, nursing home staffing ratios, quality measures checklists and fire safety inspections on the next page. Compare the quality measures for best care and choose the nursing homes with the best ratings.

• 4

  After you have made your list, call and make an appointment for a tour and to speak with the nursing home administrator.

• 5

  While on the tour, notice the condition of the facility and if the residents look well cared for. How does the staff interact with the residents? Check the dining area, does it look clean or is it unkept? Write down a list of questions and take it with you, or use the nursing home checklist provided at Medicare.gov.