Selecting a nursing home here in Westchester County, or beyond, is filled with a myriad of emotions. Sometimes the decision is made easier by the fact that the complexity of care needed can only be met in a nursing home. Other times, it is the exhaustion experienced by the caregiver that necessitates entering a nursing home. And still, other times it is for rehabilitation and the stay is short term.
Regardless of the scenario, the process of selecting a nursing home can be daunting. Many times, the person is in the hospital and the discharge planner will hand a family member a list of nursing homes and ask them to select three. You may well know three great Italian restaurants in the area, but nursing homes are a different story. Over the years, as an elder care consultant, I have learned the good, bad and ugly about the residences in Westchester County and have guided families accordingly.
In conjunction with my assistance, the Center for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) provides a helpful guide in the form of Nursing Home Compare. This five-star quality-based system, not unlike how hotels are rated, allows a person to compare various factors that, in their totality, lead to a better level of care and consequently a higher star rating.
Enhancing the need for consumers to learn as much as they can before selecting a nursing home, in October of 2019, CMS announced that it would add a new icon which is a red circle with a white stop hand in the center. This icon, seen below, alerts the researcher that the nursing home has been cited for abuse which has caused resident harm within the past year. Their star rating will be capped at two stars and only if the facility goes without an abuse citation for one year will the icon be removed.
While the abuse icon is another step to motivate nursing homes to look at the quality of care they are providing, experience has taught me that the absence of an abuse icon does not necessarily mean the absence of abuse. Visit at off-hours, smell, observe and talk to staff and residents. A difficult decision can be made a little easier.
