SNFdata

Profile Definitions and Methodology

Survey Information

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Survey information is taken from Nursing Home Compare, a U.S. government website maintained by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services. The site contains detailed information about every Medicare and Medicaid-certified nursing home in the country. http://www.medicare.gov/NHCompare

Health Survey Date - Score
A team of trained health inspectors conduct onsite health inspections, on average, about once a year. Inspectors look at the care of residents, the process of care, staff and resident interactions, and the nursing home environment. The data from the last three standard health inspections and all complaint inspections that have been conducted in the last three years were used to calculate the rating. When looking at the five-star ratings, more stars are better. Five (5) stars are the most a nursing home can get. One (1) star is the fewest.
Fire Survey Date - Deficiencies
Fire safety specialists evaluate whether a nursing home meets Life Safety Code (LSC) standards set by the National Fire Protection Agency (NFPA). The fire safety inspection covers a wide range of fire protection concerns, including construction, protection, and operational features designed to provide safety from fire, smoke, and panic. A Fire Safety Deficiency indicates that a facility failed to meet one or more Federal fire safety requirements.
Staffing

Several types of staff are included in the nursing home staffing information collected by The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS):

  • Registered Nurse (RN)
  • Licensed Practical Nurse (LPN)
  • Licensed Vocational Nurse (LVN)
  • Certified Nursing Assistant (CNA)

Each facility reports its staffing hours to its state survey agency. These staffing hours are from a two-week period just before the state inspection. CMS obtains staffing data from the states and converts the staffing hours reported by the nursing home into a measure that shows the number of staff hours per resident per day. The staffing hours per resident per day are reported by type of staff, and all staff combined as a total. Staffing hours are evaluated and reported as a five-star rating where more stars are better. Five (5) stars are the most a nursing home can get. One (1) star is the fewest.

Quality Measures
Facilities routinely collect assessment information on all their residents using a form called the Minimum Data Set. The information collected includes the resident health, physical functioning, mental status, and general well being. Nursing homes self-report this information to Medicare and some of the assessment information is used to measure the quality of certain aspects of nursing home care. (e.g. whether residents have gotten their flu shots, are in pain, or are losing weight). Quality information is evaluated and reported as a five-star rating where more stars are better. Five (5) stars are the most a nursing home can get. One (1) star is the fewest.
Participation
Facilities can participate in Medicare, Medicaid or both. A facility participating in the Medicare program can care for people with Medicare who meet certain requirements for skilled care. Generally Medicare covers short stays. A facility participating in the Medicaid program can care for people with Medicaid. If a nursing home doesn’t participate in the Medicaid program or no longer participates in the Medicaid program, and a resident runs out of other funds/coverage, the resident will have to move to another nursing home if he/she wants to be on Medicaid.
Located Within a Hospital?
Skilled nursing beds may be within a hospital unit or may be within a free-standing Skilled Nursing Facility (SNF).