How to Evaluate a Nursing Home
The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid have created a 5-star system to help
consumers compare nursing homes. Learn the Five elements in the star rating.
How to Evaluate a Nursing Home
The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid have created a 5-star system to help
consumers compare nursing homes. Learn the Five elements in the star rating.
Top Reasons for Nursing
Home Star Ratings
The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid have created a 5-star system to help consumers compare nursing homes.
It’s human nature to ignore unpleasant tasks until the last minute. Like finding the best nursing home for a short stay or to remain under nursing care for the remainder of life on earth. Few of us, outside the healthcare industry, would spend a leisurely Sunday afternoon visiting prospective nursing homes. In fact, most of us have no idea what to look for in a nursing home.
$6K+
Cost of a semi-private nursing home room
33
Average number of beds in an Assisted Living Facility
$53K+
Annual cost of homemaker services
Research your options
Quality of Care
Quality of care ratings to analyze the procedures and staff effectiveness in preventing bedsores, preventing falls, keeping vaccines, administering medication up to date and many other proactive measures to reduce unnecessary suffering.
Staff can make or break a good experience
Staffing Availability
Staffing ratios in the facility. Having the right number of skilled staff available to provide care is a constant battle in the nursing home industry.
Visit during meal time
Meals are the busiest times in residential care
Residential care marketing departments will show you the very best of their facility during a scheduled appointment. It’s like cleaning your home when company is coming. no one believes that life is that orderly everyday.
Notes from the Author
Let us start with some terminology. Some nursing homes specialize in certain types of care such as Alzheimer’s Disease and dementias. The Veteran Administration has nursing homes just for retired and injured military members. Inpatient rehabilitation facilities look like a nursing home stay in many ways, but the goal is to regain lost functions are return to the community. Sub-Acute long term care hospitalizations appear to be nursing homes for very intensive nursing care.
For this discussion, a nursing home a facility with registered nurses and physicians managing the care and assisted by many other therapies and services to manage the chronic conditions and disabilities of the residents. Some states also call these homes long term care facilities.
Do your homework when researching a nursing home. The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid have created a five-star system to help consumers compare nursing home on an ‘apple to apple’ basis. Be sure to use the 5 elements in the star rating above.
Lastly, Assisted Living Facilities are not nursing homes, even when nursing services are provided once a day. Assisted living facilities are considerably less expensive than nursing home stays and offer substantially less in services. Price is the biggest distinction between these. A nursing home, for example, can cost is $82,000/year and an Assisted Living Facility is $32,000/year. These rates vary depending on location and reputation.
Monica Stynchula – CEO / REUNIONCare, Inc.
