WASHINGTON — The U.S. has five-star rankings for restaurants and hotels. So why not five-star rankings for nursing homes?
The Bush administration announced Wednesday that it will put in place such a rating system by the end of the year. The ratings, designed to give consumers another tool to use when searching for a nursing home, would be placed on a government website.
“The fact a home has a lower rating will likely put them on the path to improvement,” said Kerry Weems, acting administrator for the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services. “I don’t think we’re going to see many people who are very anxious to put a loved one in a one-star home.”
The agency said it would seek comment from the industry and consumers to determine the rankings criteria.
In announcing their intentions, federal officials also unveiled new regulations that will require all nursing homes to have in place sprinkler systems by 2013. Homes that fail to have the sprinkler systems will be barred from serving Medicare participants.
Newer nursing homes all have sprinkler systems, but many older homes do not. Overall, the government estimates that about one out of every 11 nursing homes doesn’t have a sprinkler system. Still others have only partial sprinkler systems and will have to make improvements.
Overall, there are about 16,000 nursing homes in the U.S.
Exactly what information the Medicare agency will use to rate nursing homes is still being determined but will include observations from federal and state inspections as well as staffing levels.
The nursing home industry said it supports the new requirement on sprinkler systems but is worried about the expense. Nonprofit homes operate at very low margins, said Larry Minnix, president and chief executive of the American Association of Homes and Services for the Aging, which represents about 2,500 nursing homes. He called on lawmakers to accelerate passage of legislation to provide nursing homes with low-interest loans.
Another industry trade group, the American Health Care Association, said the new rankings should not rely solely on data from inspections but should also incorporate consumer and staff satisfaction.
