Ownership tenure, weekend staffing and infection data added to the mix

US News & World Report’s annual nursing home ratings edition is kicking things up with new criteria added to its rating system. The recently released 13th edition evaluated more than 15,000 nursing facilities on care, safety and health inspections.

It used public information and a rating methodology that differs from the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services’ Five-Star Quality System to rate the facilities. The US News’ ‘high-performing’ rating was given to over 1,600 short-term rehab nursing homes and more than 1,100 long-term care facilities.

The new criteria include information on ownership, acknowledging if a facility maintained or changed ownership within the most recent 12-month period where data was available.

They also separated weekday from weekend staffing shifts to shine a spotlight on the differences and included infection rate data as a means of highlighting the level of care facilities are providing.

“It appears that US News & World Report is hoping to add greater value to its rating system by adding these criteria, a move that may be beneficial. At SpecialtyRx we work with some of the country’s best facilities and we always do our part to ensure they maintain consistently high ratings by offering superior treatment and care,” stated Joe Kubulak, Chief Operating Officer at SpecialtyRx.