Learn to live with Five-Star

PentaStar Collaborative published a white paper surveying 356 nursing home administrators on the CMS Five-Star Rating System and how they felt it would affect their facilities.

(Click here to register for and download the PentaStar white paper.)

Two items stood out for me. When asked what effect their rating would have on the perception of their facility by consumers, 51% of respondents felt that consumers would not care. Some answered this way because they believe they have no competition geographically.

Asked how the rating would affect the facility overall, 50% were neutral, 23% said it would affect positively, and 27% said negatively.

In this age of transparency where educated boomers are the caregivers, perhaps facilities need to pay more attention to Nursing Home Compare Five-Star—however flawed it may be. And as these results become tied to pay-for-performance there is even more reason to pay attention. Another wild card is that healthcare in this day and age is not necessarily local any longer. Witness Mexican border state residents choosing Mexican nursing homes because of their low cost and amenities.

Transparency is here to stay.