There are over 400 Medicare certified nursing homes in North Carolina. Choosing the right one can be a difficult task. However, there are interactive on-line sites that provide valuable information such as facility size, characteristics, nursing ratios and recent inspection scores. First narrow down your choices to two or three selections. Then tour these facilities unannounced with a checklist in hand before making your final decision.
North Carolina State Inspections
The State conducts inspections of Medicare and Medicaid participating nursing homes once a year. If the nursing home performs poorly, the State inspectors may evaluate more often. The inspectors observe care processes and environment. There are over 150 regulations that nursing homes must meet. The regulations cover a wide range of aspects of resident life including physical and emotional care, nutrition and environmental issues. In addition to examination of the environment and resident care, interviews are conducted with residents and family. Depending upon the outcome of the inspections, actions can be taken against the nursing home that range from denial of payment to termination of Medicare and Medicaid contracts.
Characteristics
One of the Nursing Home characteristics available to compare is ownership type. Some facilities are owned by a single person or group while others are part of a multi-nursing home chain. In addition there is information available that includes the date of the most recent change of ownership. Insurances accepted as well as Medicare and Medicaid participation is also a comparable characteristic.
Quality Measures
Assessment information measuring the quality of certain aspects of nursing home care is called quality measures. Information included in the measures is the percentage of residents with severe pain, have pressure sores, are physically restrained or have suffered a substantial weight loss. Medicare posts each nursing home's scores for these quality measures. By comparing scores, you can evaluate how nursing homes may differ from one another.
Staffing
Other information available for comparison is staffing ratios. This includes Registered Nurses, Licensed Practical Nurses and Nursing Assistants. When comparing staffing levels of different nursing homes, be aware that some nursing homes care for a larger number of rehab residents. These nursing homes generally have more licensed staff. Turnover of the core staff is not represented in these numbers.
Nursing Home Checklist
A checklist can be printed out and brought with you when you tour the potential facilities. It includes areas to assess such as basic services and characteristics, appearance of residents, living area and resident room appearance, staff interactions and environment.
North Carolina nursing homes vary in the quality of care and services they provide. Reviewing inspection results, staffing data, and quality measure data are important ways to measure nursing home quality.
