New addition to CMS website

Mcknight's had a recent article about the changes to the CMS ranking website.  The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services has announced a number of updates to its Web site. These include new information about the Five-Star rating system for nursing homes, which became available Thursday, May 28.

Five-Star provider preview reports were released May 20. Nursing home providers can access that information through the Minimum Data Set (MDS) State Welcome pages that are available at the state servers for the submission of MDS data, according to CMS.

May's Five-Star data was added to the Nursing Home Compare Web site on May 28. For more information, visit www.medicare.gov/NHcompare.

CMS has also updated the information under its FAQ section of the Recovery Audit Contractor (RAC) portion of its Web site. On May 19, CMS added answers to questions such as "Why is CMS using recovery audit contractors?" and "Who should providers contact with questions concerning recovery audit contractor communications?" For more information, visit www.cms.hhs.gov/RAC.

 

Rankings Database by IQ Nursing Homes.

 IQ Nursing Homes in a recent press release announced that it is now offering a national database of nursing home and elder care facility deficiency and inspection rankings. Careful research is imperative to ensure that the nursing home to which you entrust your loved one’s care is reputable and safe. Whether you are currently researching nursing homes for yourself or a loved one, or you want to investigate the facility where a loved one is currently residing, this free resource will be useful and informative.

The data in these reports is obtained from the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS). CMS conducts nursing home inspections in order to determine whether facilities meet the minimum Medicare and Medicaid quality and performance standards. You can review the ratings for any one of the more than 25 deficiency types, such as mistreatment, resident rights, quality care, and building construction. Then, narrow your search by state, and finally, by each individual nursing home.

Nursing home abuse is a widespread problem that can result in serious injury, disease, and death for nursing home residents. The elderly are vulnerable to becoming victims of abuse, especially when physical or cognitive issues affect their ability to communicate the abuse they are suffering to others. Neglect, physical abuse, emotional abuse, and sexual abuse can occur when nursing homes are understaffed, caregivers are insufficiently trained, or nursing homes fail to properly screen employees prior to hiring them.

Visit http://www.iqnursinghomes.com/ to review the database of nursing home deficiency and inspection rankings. You can also find a national nursing home directory, up-to-date nursing home news, and information about signs of elder abuse and nursing home neglect on this site. IQ Nursing Homes offers a free nursing home abuse claim form, which will be reviewed by a qualified nursing home attorney within 36 hours. Nursing home employees who have witnessed neglect can report it anonymously.

About IQ Nursing Homes

IQ Nursing Homes has partnered with nursing home lawyers and nursing home negligence law firms throughout the country with the goal of putting a stop to the victimization of the elderly. By holding negligent staff members accountable for their actions and making it financially devastating for nursing homes to allow neglect to occur, this pattern of nursing home neglect can be put to an end.


 

Poliakoff & Associates, P.A., is one of South Carolina’s most respected and distinguished law firms. The Poliakoff firm began nearlyMore...