If you are looking for a nursing home — for a loved one, or yourself — two new tools can help you find the best options.
One is the latest nursing home rankings from U.S. News & World Report, while the other is an update to a nursing home comparison tool maintained by the federal government.
U.S. News rankings focus on quality
Recently, U.S. News & World Report ranked the best nursing homes for 2019-2020. The publication analyzed more than 15,000 nursing homes nationwide, and about one-fifth of those facilities were good enough to make the U.S. News list.
U.S. News ranked the nursing homes based on the quality of both short-term rehabilitation and long-term care. In evaluating both types of care, the publication focused on the following quality measures:
- Staffing
- Outcomes
- Resident complaints
- Processes of care
To search for a nursing home in your area, use the tool at the U.S. News website.
Federal government tool focuses on safety
The federal government is also making it easier to find good nursing homes.
Recently, the U.S. Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) unveiled a new feature of its Nursing Home Compare tool. The feature tells you if a nursing home “has been cited for issues related to nursing home abuse or neglect,” CMS says.
According to the Medicare.gov blog:
“Now when you use Nursing Home Compare, you’ll see a red alert icon if a facility has been cited for nursing home abuse that led to harm within the last year, or potential harm of a resident within the last two years. Each month, we’ll review nursing home inspection reports and will update the alert icons to make sure you have the most recent information on nursing home abuse.”
But don’t stop with those two tools. Earlier this year, we reported on some especially bad apples in “The Worst Nursing Homes in America Are Revealed.” That story recapped a congressional report that named around 400 nursing homes with a history of providing subpar care. Read the story to find out more about these homes.
Also check out:
- “2-Minute Money Manager: Can I Protect My Money If I Go Into a Nursing Home?“
- “Ask Stacy: Should I Buy Long-Term Care Insurance?“
Medicare.gov offers the following resources as well:
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