Federal and State Nursing Facility Websites: Just What the Consumer Needs?

Abstract

Since the introduction of the Medicare Nursing Home Compare website in 1999, some states have begun to develop their own websites to help consumers compare nursing facilities (NFs). This article presents a brief conceptual framework for the type of information needed for an Internet-based information system and analyzes existing federal and state NF websites, using data collected from a survey completed in 2002. Twenty-four states and the District of Columbia have a variety of information on NFs, similar to the information on the Medicare website. Information on characteristics and deficiencies of a facility is the most commonly available, but a few states have data on ownership, staffing indicators, quality indicators, complaints, and enforcement actions. Other types of data, such as resident characteristics, staff turnover rates, and financial indicators, are generally not available. Although many states are making progress toward providing consumers with information, there are gaps that exist, which if filled, could provide consumers with a better tool for facility selection and monitoring the quality of care.

Demanding work schedules and mental health in nursing assistants working in nursing homes

“…Work schedule measures that ensure reasonable periods of recuperation should become an element of quality 'report cards' similar to other patient safety measures. In the absence of reporting the hours of work of nurse assistants, other potential proxy indicators such as staff turnover rates, worker injury rates and staffing ratios may serve to alert consumers to problems with adverse working conditions that may include unhealthy work schedules (Harrington et al ., 2003). The health outcomes of their work, including mental health outcomes, have the potential to influence the quality of care that is rendered to a large number of elderly citizens.…”

The Nursing Home Compare Report Card: Consumers' Use and Understanding

“…Three descriptive articles (e.g., Castle & Lowe, 2003;Harrington, Collier, & O'Meara, 2003;Mukamel & Spector, 2003) provide information on the availability of different nursing home report cards in the United States, including NHC. A recent report further catalogs Internet-based nursing home report cards (Shugarman & Garland, 2006).…”

Evaluating Nursing Home Performance Indicators: An Illustration Exploring the Impact of Facilities on ADL Change

“…Information on ADL capacity has been used more extensively and for greater variety of purposes than has information from any other type of assessment.'' Because of this centrality, researchers often include ADL function in systems measuring nursing home performance (Harrington, O'Meara, Simon, & Schnelle, 2003;Zimmerman et al, 1995) The ADL scale used in this analysis was simply a sum of the scores for seven of these indicators. These ADLs included bed mobility, transfer, locomotion, dressing, eating, toilet use, and personal hygiene.…”