Pennsylvania Nursing Home Abuse Lawyer Blog
The Centers for Medicare Services are making some changes to the rating scale for nursing homes. Many nursing homes in PA are worried that this may cause their ratings to go down.
Currently the rating system for nursing homes is on a 1 to 5 star scale. With eleven new measures of quality expected to be included in the updated rating system, about one out of every eight nursing homes in PA could lose on or two stars under the new system.
Some of the new criteria will include staffing levels at skilled nursing facilities, which has been under scrutiny for some time now. This focus was intensified by a recent New York Times article highlighting the issue.
Another criterion that will change some ratings will focus on the use of antipsychotics for short-term and long-term residents. This is another topic that has been controversial recently as studies have been published that raise the question of whether or not residents are being over prescribed these antipsychotic medications.
This rating scale is used to help when someone is looking into nursing home facilities for themselves or a loved one. More criteria being used in the ratings will, hopefully, help when people need to choose a facility.