U.S. News & World Report Names Best Nursing Homes for 2016-17

WASHINGTON, Nov. 16, 2016 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- U.S. News & World Report, a leading expert in the evaluation and rating of health care providers across the country, today identified the Best Nursing Homes for 2016-17 and released its new Nursing Home Finder. To create these free and easy-to-use resources, U.S. News evaluated more than 15,000 homes nationwide, across each state and in 100 major metropolitan areas. This year, just over 2,000 nursing homes earned the designation of a U.S. News Best Nursing Home.

"Several million Americans will spend at least some time in a nursing home this year, whether undergoing rehab after a hospital stay or as long-term residents," said Brian Kelly, editor and chief content officer of U.S. News. "Finding a nursing home that meets an individual's specific needs can be challenging for families. Our nursing home ratings are designed to help potential residents and their loved ones navigate this difficult process."

The U.S. News Nursing Home Finder offers comprehensive information about care, safety, health inspections, staffing and more for nearly every nursing home in the country. With this tool, individuals can easily conduct a customized search for a highly rated nursing home by location, distance, Medicare and Medicaid coverage and size.

Alongside the Nursing Home Finder, rich editorial content provides helpful tips and advice on choosing a nursing home, including a slideshow on Innovative Activities at Today's Nursing Homes, a look at the 5 Qualities of a Great Nursing Home and a Visitors' Guide to Nursing Homes. 

Since its inception in 2009, the U.S. News nursing home ratings have relied on data from Nursing Home Compare, a program run by the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS), the federal agency that sets and enforces standards for nursing homes. This year, U.S. News updated its methodology to give users a better sense of how homes perform over time and to determine whether a home provides appropriate rehabilitation services. For more information about the updated methodology, please see below or click here.

The 2,000-plus nursing homes that earned the designation of a U.S. News & World Report Best Nursing Home for 2016-17 represent about 13 percent of all homes and reflect a 41 percent decrease from last year. That is due in large part to the updated methodology.  For the second year in a row, California has the highest number of homes on the list, followed by Ohio and Florida. Washington, D.C., Colorado and Delaware have the highest proportion of Best Nursing Homes as compared to the total number of homes evaluated.

"Every year we strive to improve upon the information we offer to our users making critical decisions," says Ben Harder, Chief Health Analyst. "With our new methodology, we have taken several steps to ensure that nursing homes that consistently perform well are highlighted."

About Best Nursing Homes Updated Methodology
U.S. News has updated the methodology used to evaluate nursing homes to ensure that the designation of Best Nursing Home is given only to those homes that demonstrate appropriate use of key services and consistent performance in national quality measures. To qualify as a Best Nursing Home this year, facilities had to earn an average of 4.5 stars or better during the 12 months of federal reports ending in October 2016 and had to consistently meet certain performance standards set by U.S. News during the period, such as earning at least 4 stars in the CMS overall rating for all 12 months. For more detailed information about the updated methodology, please click here.

About U.S. News & World Report
U.S. News & World Report is a digital news and information company that empowers people to make better, more informed decisions about important issues affecting their lives. Focusing on Education, Health, Personal Finance, Travel, Cars and News & Opinion, USNews.com provides consumer advice, rankings, news and analysis to serve people making complex decisions throughout all stages of life. More than 37 million people visit USNews.com each month for research and guidance. Founded in 1933, U.S. News is headquartered in Washington, D.C.

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SOURCE U.S. News & World Report