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Wonder How a New York Nursing Home Rates?

If your loved one is considering living in a nursing home, there is good news. There is now a database where you can search for information about Medicare and Medicaid certified nursing homes. This database, which can be found on Medicare’s website, gives each nursing home a quality rating based on five-stars, as well as other valuable information.

Kerry Weems, the acting administrator for the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS), gave a statement that “More than three million Americans rely on services provided by a nursing home at some point during the year. This should help consumers in narrowing their choices, but nothing should substitute for visiting a nursing home when making a decision.”

According to Reuters Health report, this tool is the first federally managed database that rates nursing homes based on quality. The CMS has had this information for years and has had the ability to display it online, but this new system is more consumer-friendly. It includes details on health inspections, nursing home staff and quality measures. The system is designed to offer better information on quality, comparisons and costs of nursing homes.

There have been many critics of this new system, which is not surprisingly some of the nursing homes that received poor ratings. When the system was first implemented, nursing homes around the country did not rate well. Nearly one in four of the nursing homes included in the database received only one star. Only about one in 10 received a five star rating.

Even if you take your time in choosing a nursing home and research using this new government tool, it is nearly impossible to foresee nursing home abuse. If your elderly family member has been the victim of nursing home neglect or abuse, you need to take action immediately. Contact an experienced New York nursing home abuse lawyer at Rappaport, Glass, Greene & Levine at (800) 734-9445 for a free legal consultation.