Are nursing homes fudging their staffing and quality numbers to obtain more favorable Five-Star ratings? A new report suggest such practices may be taking place.
Researchers from the Brookings Institution and the University of Connecticut School of Business examined operators’ self-reporting trends in these two categories between 2010 and 2013.
They found that up to 1 in 8 facilities were in inflating helpful scores. The study suggests that some facilities may be “developing strategies to manipulate the system and in ate their ratings.”
“[Our] results can be used to strategically focus future audits on the nursing homes which are most likely to be inflators, and help CMS improve the rating system,” the authors noted.
From the January 01, 2018 Issue of McKnight's Long-Term Care News
