On March 11, 2015, the Diane Rehm program on National Public Radio hosted a discussion of the revisions to the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services’s (CMS’s) Five Star Quality Rating System for nursing homes.[1] Patrick Conway, CMS Chief Medical Officer and Deputy Administrator for Innovation and Quality began the show by describing the changes. Following that, Center for Medicare Advocacy Senior Policy Attorney Toby S. Edelman, LeadingAge Director of Government Affairs Barbara Gay and Altarum Institute Center for Elder Care and Advanced Illness Senior Policy Analyst Anne Montgomery participated in a wide-ranging conversation with Diane Rehm about nursing home quality, problems in nurse staffing, and antipsychotic drugs. Callers from around the country shared their families’ experiences at nursing homes, with many citing inadequate staffing levels and inappropriate use of antipsychotic drugs.
Listen to the show at http://thedianerehmshow.org/shows/2015-03-11/rating-the-quality-of-americas-nursing-homes.
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[1]. See CMA Alert, “Changes to Nursing Home Compare and the Five Star Quality Rating System” (Feb. 26, 2015), https://www.medicareadvocacy.org/changes-to-nursing-home-compare-and-the-five-star-quality-rating-system/.