CMS Five Star Rating System
Suggested Media Talking Points

• Our first commitment - always - is to provide quality care to residents in a safe and secure environment.
   
• Delivering the highest quality of care and customer satisfaction is a top priority for those of us in the long term care profession--and the vast majority of nursing homes nationwide provide the type of high quality, compassionate care that patients, residents and their families want and deserve.
   
• The facts speak for themselves - quality is improving in our nation’s nursing facilities - a reality not reflected in the 5 Star program.
   
• The long term care profession has helped to lead the nation's healthcare sector in terms of quality improvement, and we are committed to continuing our work with CMS to advance a transparent survey process that recognizes quality, and provides the resources for facility improvement, which will enhance efforts to further improve quality long term care.
   
• We support a rating system that accurately reflects the quality of care in our nation’s nursing facilities; however, we do not believe that a system based on the current survey system will provide consumers with accurate, up-to-date information.
   
• Florida already has a Five Star Rating system on the Agency for Health Care Administration’s Nursing Home Guide, which is based on inspection reports and much more reflective of how facilities compare to others in their geographic areas.
   
• CMS claims that the survey component of its 5-Star Quality Rating System represents the most important dimension in determining a facility’s overall quality rating. We disagree--today’s survey system does not measure quality, but rather assesses compliance with federal or state regulations. We believe that customer satisfaction - how a resident and family members judge the care being provided in a particular facility - is a better indicator of the quality of care and quality of life residents enjoy.
   
• Quality improvement is a dynamic ongoing process - and its quantification must reflect the many variants that go into the delivery of care. We believe that consumer and staff satisfaction are two important components of quality care.
   
• In June, My InnerView, Inc. released its national report on customer satisfaction with nursing facilities. The report is based on surveys of more than 146,300 residents and family members and nearly 162,000 employees; 83% of the respondents rated overall satisfaction with their nursing home as "excellent" or "good" and fully 82% of the respondents said they would recommend the facility to others as "excellent" or "good."
   
• Long term care providers are providing quality of care and quality of life for residents, and that the profession is clearly being part of the solution. We are helping lead the charge, changing the culture, turning a corner on quality care.
   
• We know that getting the appropriate care in the appropriate setting is critical. Nothing takes the place of visiting a facility, first hand. Florida Health Care Association also offers a number of resources on long term care services in Florida on the Family Forum section of their Web site at www.fhca.org.