The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) unveiled an updated Web site on Thursday. The site is intended to help people make the choice of a nursing home easier. The updated Nursing Home Compare site uses a five-star rating system, similar to that used for hotels or motels, to rank institutions nationwide. Even if the site contained a lot of information before the update, that data was not entirely usable by the average consumer. The update allows a user to do a much more direct comparison in a user-friendly way.

 

One of the people that served the advisory panel that developed the rating system told the media that roughly 10 percent of the facilities have five stars and roughly 20 percent have one star. However, some geriatric experts were still concerned that the site might not reflect patients' and families' true concerns. The National Citizens' Coalition for Nursing Home Reform issued a statement in which it said it is fully aware of the shortcomings of the rating system, but it would still support it as an important educational tool. Anyway, the importance of the comprehensive, up-to-date information on the nation's 16,000 nursing homes is indisputable.

 

According to data from the CMS, more than 1 million Americans enter a nursing home each year. However, the decision to enter a nursing home, or to place a family member in a nursing home, can really be gut-wrenching. The rankings on the new site are based on input from three areas: quality measures, nurse staffing levels and health inspection reports. Even if the Web site formally launched on Thursday, CMS is soliciting comments on the site through June and July. Anyway, experts say the Nursing Home Compare online should not be the only source families use. It remains to be seen how this will affect people's decisions.