Families of nursing-home residents across the state reported overall satisfaction with the care being provided to their loved ones in 2012, according to results of a state study released yesterday.
The statewide average satisfaction score of 948 facilities was about 86 percent, which is about a two percentage point decrease from the previous survey, taken in 2010. The Department of Aging organizes this survey every two years and got 27,000 responses in 2012 — an increase from the 2010 survey.
In the latest survey, 25 facilities scored higher than about 94 percent; three were in Franklin County. The statewide low was 66 percent for an overall rating, and the high was 97.5 percent. In central Ohio counties, the low was 71.9 percent, and the high was 96.9 percent.
The top five in central and southeastern Ohio:
• Glenmont, 4599 Avery Rd., Hilliard: 96.93• Willow Brook Christian Home, 55 Lazelle Rd.: 95.83
• Rest Haven Nursing Home, 2274 McDermott Pond Creek Rd., McDermott: 95.18
• Cherith Care Center at Willow Brook, 100 Willow Brook Way S., Delaware: 94.47
• Mother Angeline McCrory Manor, 5199 E. Broad St.: 94.16
The bottom five in central and southeastern Ohio:
• Scioto Community, 433 Obetz Rd.: 74.51
• Maple View Manor, 430 S. Maple St., Bainbridge: 74.97
• Laurels of Norworth, 6830 N. High St., Worthington: 74.67
• Heartland-Lansing, 68222 Commercial Dr., Bridgeport: 71.9
• Franklin Woods NSG & Rehab Center, 2770 Clime Rd: 71.92
Families were asked whether they would recommend the facility, whether they are satisfied with the medical care, and whether residents have enough activities, among other questions. Results for all Ohio facilities are available at www.ltcohio.org.
Homes that are scored poorly are advised by the Department of Aging to speak with family members who participated about why they scored the way they did.
“There’s nothing punitive about getting a low score,” said Beverley Laubert, the state’s ombudsman for long-term care. “It’s one piece of information nursing homes can use to improve.”
Although low scores are not directly punitive, nursing homes must show they are providing quality care, or they lose about 10 percent of their Medicaid funding from the state.
Scoring 88 percent or better on the survey earns homes an additional “quality point” in the reimbursement formula used by the state Medicaid office to reward nursing homes that provide quality care.The department used the 88-percentage-point average score from the 2010 survey to determine how to award quality points in 2012, and it will continue to use that mark in 2014, Laubert said.
Factors that the state takes into account for Medicaid reimbursement include the quality of clinical care, the living choices offered to residents and the overall environment of the home. The survey that family members received touched on similar topics.
This year, the department will survey nursing-home residents — as it typically does after surveying family members — because residents and their family members sometimes care about different things, Laubert said. Laubert said the drop from 2010 to 2012 could be correlated with the number of changed questions, staffing changes at nursing homes, or family members expecting more from homes because of the high satisfaction reported in 2010.
The department has been conducting these surveys since 2002, and survey costs are supported by a fee that the state charges nursing homes.