CMS updated its Nursing Home Five-Star Quality Rating System on July 27 to include weekend staffing rates for nurses and information on annual turnover among nurses and administrators.
A facility's performance on each measure is converted to points for the ranking, which are totaled and compared to thresholds for each staffing star rating. One star will no longer be added to the overall rating of facilities that have a four-star staffing rating.
"These changes will provide a more comprehensive representation of each facility's staffing for residents, families, caregivers, and consumers that use the Care Compare website to view information about nursing homes to support health care decisions for themselves or someone they care about," the agency said. "These changes seek to incentivize a more holistic approach to improving nursing home staffing, and ultimately aim to result in better quality of care and outcomes for residents."