Five-Star Quality Rating System

For nearly 15 years, the Center for Medicare and Medicaid Services’ Five-Star Quality Rating System for long-term care facilities has been a single source of truth for multiple parties.  Consumers...

The agency will start auditing nursing homes this month to determine whether residents’ schizophrenia diagnoses are accurate and appropriately coded. A pattern of inaccurate coding may result in a quality...

In a skilled nursing environment driven increasingly by data, providers must know which metrics matter most to their stakeholders — and be willing to work hard to improve those that exist beyond the...

A bill that would use the federal government’s Five-Star ratings system as a means to identify and punish poor quality nursing homes passed a New Jersey senate committee Thursday, drawing criticism in...

On a recent flight, I sat next to an attorney whose principal focus was compliance. It turned out that we were both on our way to speak at events in the same popular Florida conference destination. She...

Recently my colleague Ken Kelley, MS, OTR/L, RAC-CT, a clinical consultant/reimbursement specialist, posited something about Five-Star ratings that I hadn’t considered.  He suggested that, in general,...

The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, through its consumer‐facing website, has made additional nursing home staffing data available. Doing so during a public health emergency, when the industry...

Preparing for a presentation is always fun for me, especially when it involves original research. In anticipation of Reimbur$ement-Con, and my session “The Unexpected Nemesis,” we took a deep dive...

Can a one-star skilled nursing facility be the same as a five-star facility?  It depends on your zip code.   When the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services assigns the health inspection...

Higher facility star ratings are tied to lower COVID transmission rates and fewer deaths, according to the agency’s chief medical officer and director of its Center for Clinical Standards and Quality.