On March 5, 2019, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) announced changes to its Five-Star Quality Rating System and changes were implemented today (April 25, 2019). Nationally, 30% of skilled nursing facilities were projected to lose one or more stars, but Bethany Retirement Living’s two campuses, Bethany on 42nd and Bethany on University, continue to hold strong as five-star facilities.
Changes made to the rating system reflect CMS’ ongoing effort to improve the information consumers receive about skilled nursing centers. The star ratings of nursing centers now reflect new thresholds for both the staffing and quality measures components that caused many providers to suddenly lose stars.
For the staffing component, CMS adjusted ratings to provide a greater emphasis on registered nurse staffing and gave a one-star staffing rating to facilities that report four or more days without an RN onsite in a quarter. For the quality measure component, CMS added two new measures – long-stay hospitalization and long-stay Emergency Department visits, dropped one measure – long-stay physical restraints, and replaced two measures with newer versions – short-stay pressure ulcer and short-stay discharge community will be replaced with Quality Reporting Program measures.
For more information about Bethany Retirement Living’s continued five-star rating, contact Grant Richardson at 701.478.8910 or Grichardson@bethanynd.org.
Bethany Retirement Living was founded in Fargo in 1939 and is affiliated with the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA). Bethany provides high-quality care to the elderly in skilled nursing, memory care, rehabilitation, transitional care, assisted living, basic care, senior apartments, and personal care programs.