Quality of Care Measures for Nursing Homes

Ian C. Langtree - Writer/Editor for Disabled World (DW)
Published: 2011/03/03 - Updated: 2022/05/19
Topic: Rehabilitation and Hospitals - Publications List

Page Content: Synopsis - Introduction - Main

Synopsis: Measures for public reporting and quality improvement to be used in nursing home compare for both long-term residents and short-stay patients. The NQF endorsed measures will be used in the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services' Nursing Home Compare, an online database for consumers to compare the care provided in more than 17,000 nursing homes across the country.

Introduction

To improve the quality of care in nursing homes for the 1.4 million Americans who currently reside in facilities across the country, the National Quality Forum (NQF) has endorsed 21 measures to be used to care for both long-term residents and short-stay patients. The NQF endorsed measures will be used in the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services' Nursing Home Compare, an online database for consumers to compare the care provided in more than 17,000 nursing homes across the country.

Main Item

In 2004, NQF endorsed an initial set of measures for publicly reporting care in nursing homes. With the completion of the current project, the 17 measures that were previously endorsed will be retired and, in some instances, replaced by the newly endorsed measures. These measures were recently retired in the transition to CMS' updated data collection instrument, the Minimum Data Set 3.0 (MDS 3.0).

"Choosing where to go for long or short-term care in a nursing home is an incredibly important decision," said Janet Corrigan, NQF president and CEO. "Patients and their families need reliable information on the quality of care being provided in skilled nursing facilities, so they can make informed decisions about the place they will receive care daily. The quality data derived from these measures will provide essential information about infection rates, patient care experiences, and the general health of residents in nursing homes across the country."

The 21 NQF endorsed nursing home measures assess patient outcomes and the patient's own experience of care for both long-term residents and short-stay patients. The measures address falls, infections, pressure ulcers, and the general health of residents and patients.

Examples of endorsed measures include:

NQF's Steering Committee on Nursing Homes was co-chaired by David Gifford, MD, MPH, Director, Rhode Island Department of Health, and Christine Mueller, PhD, RN, FAAN, Associate Professor and Chair, University of Minnesota School of Nursing.

"These measures will help consumers better understand and compare quality of care when selecting nursing homes and will help them to monitor care once they or a family member is in a nursing home," said Dr. Gifford. "Nursing homes can also use these measures to benchmark how they are doing compared to others in addressing important nursing home quality of care issues."

NQF is a voluntary consensus standards-setting organization. Any party may request reconsideration of the 21 endorsed recommendations, in whole or in part, by notifying NQF in writing no later than April 1, 2011. (To access the appeals form, go to the Nursing Homes project page (www.qualityforum.org/Projects/Nursing_Homes.aspx), then go to the section on appeals and click on the link to the standard's directory.) For an appeal to be considered, the notification must include information clearly demonstrating the appellant has interests that are directly and materially affected by the NQF-endorsed recommendations and that the NQF decision has had (or will have) an adverse effect on those interests.

Endorsed Measures

The National Quality Forum (NQF) operates under a three-part mission to improve the quality of American healthcare by:

Author Credentials: Ian was born and grew up in Australia. Since then, he has traveled and lived in numerous locations and currently resides in Montreal, Canada. Ian is the founder, a writer, and editor in chief for Disabled World. Ian believes in the Social Model of Disability, a belief developed by disabled people in the 1970s. The social model changes the focus away from people's impairments and towards removing barriers that disabled people face daily. To learn more about Ian's background, expertise, and achievements, .

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Citing and References

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Cite This Page: Disabled World. (2011, March 3 - Last revised: 2022, May 19). Quality of Care Measures for Nursing Homes. Disabled World (DW). Retrieved April 25, 2025 from www.disabled-world.com/medical/rehabilitation/measures.php

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