Nearly 2,300 nursing homes earn high marks from U.S. News

U.S. News and World Report evaluated more than 15,000 nursing homes for its 2017-18 Best Nursing Home list. Some 2,285 of them—15 percent of all of those evaluated—made the list by earning a rating of 4.5 or higher on a 5-point scale.

“Finding a nursing home that meets an individual's specific needs is a difficult decision that several million families across America face each year," Brian Kelly, editor and chief content officer of U.S. News, said in a statement. “The Best Nursing Homes ratings, advice and tools were designed to help navigate this important life decision and make the process a little easier.”

For the second straight year, California had the highest number of nursing homes which made the list (251) with 204 of them earning the maximum rating of five points. Ohio (229 homes) and Florida (120 homes) had the second and third most facilities on the list. Arkansas, Hawaii and Washington, D.C., had the highest proportion of homes on the list compared to the total number which were evaluated.

The ratings relied on data from CMS’s Nursing Home Compare website. The CMS star ratings are based on three domains: state-conducted health inspections, amount of nurse staffing and measures of medical quality. U.S. News also factors in two quality measures related to the “amount of rehabilitation therapy a home provides its residents.”

U.S. News reorganized their ratings into five levels this year, with the top performers scoring between 4.5 and 5, to match what it does with other health ratings.

Along with the ratings, U.S. News also released a new Nursing Home Finder tool which allows individuals to search through ratings of homes located nearby, as well as by Medicare and Medicaid coverage and size.

“Selecting the right nursing home that offers exceptional care for a loved one can be particularly challenging,” said U.S. News managing editor and chief of health analysis Ben Harder, Managing Editor and Chief of Health Analysis. “For the Best Nursing Homes, U.S. News analyzed objective data to arm consumers with the information and confidence they need to help them choose a home capable of providing the quality care seniors deserve.”