June 21, 2024 – The Long Term Care Community Coalition (LTCCC) regularly publishes data on key indicators relevant to nursing home care. Today, LTCCC is releasing a new report with federal data on five-star ratings, ownership type, enforcement, and other important information for the nearly 15,000 U.S. nursing homes in the federal CMS dataset.

In the report, users can access national datasets that can be sorted and filtered to identify nursing homes in a location and/or category (i.e., for-profit nursing homes in Illinois). The datasets contain info on five-star ratings, ownership status, health inspection outcomes, family council presence, and a whole lot more for all US nursing homes. We also provide a “Problem Facilities” dataset for poor performing nursing homes that are in the federal Special Focus Facility (SFF) Program, SFF candidates, or assigned a one-star overall rating. These resources can help you evaluate nursing homes and make informed decisions about where to receive care.

How to use this report:

  • Residents and their loved ones: View a nursing home’s ratings (overall, staffing, health inspection, etc.) or identify whether a facility has a resident council or family council.
  • Journalists and researchers: Review a nursing home’s health deficiencies to determine whether an incident is part of a pattern or compare performance indicators for nursing homes with different characteristics (i.e., ownership type, part of a chain, or location).
  • Ombudsmen: Use the slicer and filter features to select and evaluate nursing homes in your state or region.
  • State and federal leaders: Access state, region, and nationwide data on star ratings and other indicators for the facilities in your state or district.

Key findings:

  • One in four U.S. nursing homes (24.6%) is a Problem Facility: meaning they have a one-star rating, are a SFF, or SFF candidate.
  • Average overall ratings vary significantly by state, from 2.19 (Louisiana) to 3.78 (Hawaii).
  • For-profit nursing homes are much more likely to be poor performers. For-profit companies own 72% of all U.S. nursing homes and 86.5% of those identified as Problem Facilities.
  • Nursing homes that are part of a chain have lower staffing and ratings. Chain owned facilities also have higher turnover and more fines on average.
  • Nearly 9% of facilities have an abuse icon, indicating a history of abuse or neglect. Note: the absence of an abuse icon does not necessarily mean the absence of abuse at any given facility.
  • Five-star facilities are relatively rare, with only 18.1% achieving the highest rating. Hawaii, Alaska, and Delaware have the highest percentage of five-star nursing homes while Guam, Louisiana, and Mississippi have the lowest. Note: A five-star rating does not necessarily mean good care.

For more detailed information and to access the report, please visit NursingHome411.org.