Evaluating and improving the nursing home ratings system

Aging Americans and their families face many difficulties when determining which nursing home facilities offer the highest quality of care at an affordable price in order to fulfill their individual needs. To address these concerns, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) developed Nursing Home Compare, a five-star rating system intended to guide patients and their families through the decision making process. How accurate is the current system and how can ratings be improved going forward?

On December 15, Governance Studies hosted an event to examine the current state of the nursing home industry and the accompanying rating system. Researchers presented a new paper that examines the rating system and studies the prevalence of inflation in the ratings. An expert panel discussed the many complexities of the current system, and debate what improvements can be made to the system moving forward.

Following the discussion, panelists took questions from the audience.