The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services issued a list last week of the nation's poorest performing nursing homes targeted for increased inspection and enforcement efforts.
In the list, which includes information through October, CMS identified 128 poor performers or "special focus facilities" from among the 16,000 currently participating in Medicare and Medicaid in the United States.
According to CMS Acting Administrator Kerry Weems, release of the list reinforces the agency's commitment to beneficiaries and their families with the information they need to make long-term care choices.
CMS said it released the list to aid the public in selection of nursing homes because a number of facilities have been providing poor care but have periodically passed compliance tests. "Such facilities with a "yo-yo" compliance history rarely addressed underlying systemic problems that were giving rise to repeated cycles of serious deficiencies," CMS said.
CMS said it plans to double inspections of the poor ranking facilities and will increase enforcement until these facilities show significant improvement or they will be terminated from Medicare and Medicaid participation.
"[A]ny nursing home, not just those identified as an special focus facility, that reveals a pattern of persistent poor quality is subject to increasingly stringent enforcement action," CMS warned. "If problems continue, the severity of penalties will increase over time, ranging from civil monetary penalties, denial of payment for new admissions and, ultimately, removal from Medicare and/or Medicaid."
Nursing homes reported as poor performing were among the poorest 5 percent or 10 percent in each state and the top 54 facilities listed were among the those that have failed to improve significantly. Most facilities CMS selects for increased oversight improve care within 24-30 months, while about 16 percent are terminated from Medicare and Medicaid, CMS reports.
In addition to increased focus on poor performers, CMS said it is developing new, more stringent systems for criminal background checks on facility workers and applicants. It will also work on "unprecedented focus" on preventing catastrophic pressure ulcers in nursing home residents and in improving the state survey process.
"CMS' effort to identify poor performing nursing homes is intended to promote more rapid and substantial improvement in the quality of care in identified nursing homes and end the pattern of repeated cycles of non-compliance," Weems noted.