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Nursing home industry worries about federal government’s new star rating system
Thursday, December 18, 2008 | No comments posted.
WASHINGTON (AP) — Rating systems help people decide which restaurants to go to or hotels to stay at. So why not something similar from the federal government for the nation’s 16,000 nursing homes?
Such a simple rating for so complex a task as caring for the elderly is leading to much anxiety in the nursing home industry. Home operators worry about the ramifications for their business if they get one or two stars — when five is the best.
The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services was to let everyone know Thursday just how many stars each home is getting. Already the industry is questioning the validity of the rankings. To operators, the five-star system is a great idea whose time has not yet come.
The system “is poorly planned, prematurely implemented and hamhandedly rolled out,” said Larry Minnix, president and chief executive officer of the American Association of Homes and Services for the Aging, an industry trade group.
Federal officials say the rankings will put nursing homes “on the path to improvement” because they know family members will think twice before putting someone in a one-star home.
Such a simple rating for so complex a task as caring for the elderly is leading to much anxiety in the nursing home industry. Home operators worry about the ramifications for their business if they get one or two stars — when five is the best.
The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services was to let everyone know Thursday just how many stars each home is getting. Already the industry is questioning the validity of the rankings. To operators, the five-star system is a great idea whose time has not yet come.
The system “is poorly planned, prematurely implemented and hamhandedly rolled out,” said Larry Minnix, president and chief executive officer of the American Association of Homes and Services for the Aging, an industry trade group.
Federal officials say the rankings will put nursing homes “on the path to improvement” because they know family members will think twice before putting someone in a one-star home.
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