The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) announced revisions to its Nursing Home Compare website and its five-star quality rating system that lowered the ratings for many nursing homes, the agency announced in a February 20, 2015, press release. The revisions to the rating system include the addition of quality measures on an organization's use of antipsychotic medications, revised calculations for staffing levels, and higher performance standards for quality measures. As a result, about two-thirds of nursing homes experienced a decline in their quality measures rating on the Nursing Home Compare website and one-third saw their overall ratings drop, CMS said. The changes went into effect in late February. The rating system uses three data categories: (1) results from on-site inspections, (2) performance on certain quality measures, and (3) staffing levels. The Nursing Home Compare website, intended to help consumers with nursing home selection, gets about 1.4 million visits annually. CMS has indicated it plans to extend its five-star rating system to other healthcare providers, including hospitals.

HRC Recommends: Healthcare organizations with nursing home facilities should regularly monitor their nursing homes' ratings on the Nursing Home Compare website and be prepared to answer consumers' questions about their ratings, including any recent changes to their ratings. Hospitals that refer discharged patients to nursing homes in their communities should be aware of the nursing homes' ratings and factor them into consideration when identifying facilities for their patients' posthospital care.