Houston Nursing Homes and Medicare
Among the most valuable resources available to those vetting nursing homes on behalf of their loved ones is Nursing Home Compare, a service provided by the United States Government via their official Medicare website. Nursing Home Compare is a searchable database of more than 15,000 Medicare- and Medicaid-certified nursing homes throughout the country. Users can use Nursing Home Compare to find important information about state-licensed nursing homes in a particular community.
To get started, all you have to do is enter your zip code or the name of the city or state to which you would like to narrow your search. Nursing Home Compare will provide a list of nursing homes in the geographical region. You can also find specific information about a nursing home by including the full or partial name of the facility in your search.
Information Available through Nursing Home Compare
Nursing Home Compare provides such information as:
Ratings on the overall quality of nursing homes, as well as on each facility’s health inspections, quality assurance, and level of attention provided to each individual resident
Results of health inspections
Summaries of complaints and complaint investigations
Number of registered nurses, physical therapists, nursing assistants, and licensed practical or vocational nurses on staff
Penalties against a nursing home
Statistics regarding quality of care, including percentage of residents with bedsores and urinary incontinence
Nursing Home Compare uses an easy-to-understand star rating system, with five stars representing the highest possible rating (except for Special Focus Facilities, in which case the highest possible rating is three stars). The information contained in the database is updated regularly.
How to Use This Information
Nursing Home Compare should not be considered the definitive guide to nursing homes, but rather a useful information resource that should be used in conjunction with other available resources. There is no substitute for old-fashioned legwork. As you narrow down your list of prospective nursing homes, be sure to dig deep. Ask to view the latest inspection results of each nursing home; by law, the facility must make these available to the public. Ask probing questions and make no commitments until you are satisfied that you are entrusting your loved one to the surest and most trustworthy of hands.
Contact Our Nursing Home Attorneys
Ultimately, we hope that you will never need the legal assistance of a nursing home, elder abuse, and wrongful death attorney at our law firm. If you do, however, please don’t hesitate to contact Rosen & Spears today.
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