Monday, November 23, 2009

Health

Nursing Homes: 10 Best States on Key Quality Measures

Medical care was one of the 10 quality measures used in judging nursing homes

Posted December 19, 2008

Yesterday, the federal government rolled out a revamped and simplified approach to its evaluations of nursing homes, in order to make the onerous task of choosing the right one easier for families. Like the system the government uses for rating Medicare health and drug plans, the Nursing Home Compare site now gives nursing homes from 1 to 5 stars overall and in each of three areas—performance in the latest three quarterly reports in 10 key quality measures, such as the percentage of residents with urinary tract infections; performance in the latest three annual health inspections; and adequacy of both overall staffing and staffing by registered nurses.

The following states have the highest percentages of nursing homes with the best rating of 5 stars for performance in the 10 quality measures.

Rank State Total, all nursing homes 5 stars
1 Hawaii 42 26.2 percent
2 Alabama 230 19.6 percent
3 Minnesota 389 19.0 percent
4 New Hampshire 78 16.7 percent
5 Iowa 442 16.1 percent
6 Maryland 229 15.3 percent
7 Delaware 40 15.0 percent
7 Vermont 40 15.0 percent
9 Nebraska 221 14.5 percent
10 Kansas 334 14.4 percent

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