This week, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) released a strengthened version of the Five Star Quality Rating System for Nursing Homes on the Nursing Home Compare website. The Nursing Home Compare website allows beneficiaries and families to search for and learn about nursing facilities in their area.  CMS believes that these improvements to the quality rating system will give families more precise and meaningful information. This update is part of a more comprehensive effort, announced by the White House last October, to improve quality rating systems.

Star ratings represent evaluations of nursing homes based on results from onsite inspections by trained surveyors, performance on certain quality measures, and levels of staffing. CMS combines these categories to create an overall star rating, but beneficiaries and families can see and focus on the components measures.

Beginning this week, nursing home star ratings will incorporate the use of antipsychotics, which are often used for diagnoses that do not warrant them and can be dangerous. Also included in the update are improved calculations for staffing levels, as research indicates that staffing is important to overall quality in a nursing home.

CMS warns that, because standards for performance on quality measures are increasing, many nursing homes will see a decline in their quality measures star rating. CMS hopes that this change will allow beneficiaries to more easily identify meaningful distinctions in performance.