Five Star Quality Rating System updates for January 2021
On December 4, 2020, CMS announced the resumption of calculations for the Five Star Quality Rating System and a new updated website for public nursing home quality information:
- Health Inspections and Quality Measure domains will resume on January 27, 2021.
- Findings from focused Infection Control surveys will be used in the Health Inspection domain and will be calculated the same way complaint surveys are.
- For calculating the Quality Measure domain, CMS will not be using 1/1/20 – 3/31/20 data, rather the update in January will begin with MDS-based quality data for Quarter 2 2020 (4/1 – 6/30).
- CMS is also completing the transition from Nursing Home Compare to the new Care Compare website. Care Compare provides a single user-friendly interface that patients and caregivers can use to make informed decisions about healthcare based on cost, quality of care, volume of services, and other data. To view information about nursing homes, please visit https://www.medicare.gov/care-compare/
