US Govt. to Make Nursing Home Quality Data Public
Originally published by Reuters Health, November 20, 2001
WASHINGTON — As of next April, residents of five US states will be able to access information on the quality of care at local nursing homes on the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) Web site.
The program, aimed at improving the nation's quality of long-term care, will begin with a demonstration project in Colorado, Maryland, Ohio, Rhode Island and Washington, with the eventual goal of providing this type of information nationwide.
The information will include 11 quality measures, such as whether a facility has been reported to authorities for the use of physical restraints and anti-psychotic drugs without a psychiatric diagnosis. Other measures will include the incidence among a facility's patients of pressure sores, weight loss, infections and decline in activities of daily living, as well as hospitalization rates and pain management policies.
In the past, this information has been provided by nursing home operators to HHS but not distributed to consumers.
Announcing the program on Monday, HHS Secretary Tommy G. Thompson said the goal was in part to give Medicare and Medicaid patients the power to choose the best care and in part to recognize those facilities that provide high quality care.
"People covered by Medicare and Medicaid have the power to choose the best care to meet their individual needs, but they have to have more reliable information to choose quality care," Thompson said. "Our efforts today will help beneficiaries all across the country to compare the performance of their local nursing homes, and will provide the recognition that high-quality nursing homes deserve."
Over the next few years, Thompson said similar information would be published about home healthcare providers, hospitals and other types of healthcare providers. Thompson added that the national release of nursing home data would begin in October.
Advocates of nursing home reform praised the HHS program. Offering support were an association of nonprofit nursing home operators, a nursing home reform organization and the president of the nation's largest nursing home employee union.
However, they warned that the quality data is not a substitute for annual inspections.
"Taken by itself, we think it's a good idea," Janet Wells, director of public policy at the National Citizen's Coalition for Nursing Home Reform, explained in an interview with Reuters Health. "But we are also concerned that people may not have access to a good nursing home and that any data like this may not be entirely accurate."
Earlier this year, the reform advocates also criticized HHS for reportedly considering fewer inspections.
This criticism surfaced after Tom Scully, the administrator of the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS), reportedly said that he thought these inspections could occur every 3 years.
The organization believes there is no substitute for the vigorous enforcement of federal regulations backed by the appropriate penalties, Wells explained.
According to HHS data, about 1.5 million elderly and disabled Americans currently reside in nursing homes.
Access to the nursing home quality measures will be provided at www.medicare.gov. Consumers will also be able to access the information by calling 1-800-MEDICARE (1-800-633-4227).
