Focus on Your Ratings for Senior Living Success

As family members consider moving a loved one into a care community, they will likely review your five-star rating as they compare their options. Your rating can also not only affects your approval with family members, it can impact your approval for rehab through insurance companies as well. Simply put, the higher your rating, the better it is for your community.

Here are five things that you and your team can work on to help improve your rating:

1. Insert survey preparedness into your schedule.
2. Break down your survey preparedness into sections that are digestible, and then focus on each section separately.
3. Make the practice of survey preparedness ongoing.
4. Immediately correct any possibilities for citations and document the corrective action.
5. Put a focus on nutrition and food services, as it can help improve your rating in several areas.

To put a focus on nutrition and food services as it relates to your rating, analyze the following six measures:

1. Percentage of long-stay high-risk residents with pressure ulcers.
   Can you assist in ensuring the right nutrition is being given to residents whose skin is prone to break down?
2. Percentage of long-stay residents with a urinary tract infection.
   Are all necessary teams a part of your resident hydration program?
3. Percentage of long-stay residents who lose too much weight.
   How can your consulting RD and food service staff work better together to help ward off weight loss?
4. Percentage of short-stay residents who were re-hospitalized after a nursing home admission.
5. Rate of successful return to home and community from a skilled nursing facility.
6. Rate of potentially preventable hospital readmissions 30 days after discharge from a skilled nursing facility.
   To assist with these last three measures, would it be possible to help educate rehab patients on the importance of hydration and nutrition before they are discharged?

Looking for ways your dining and nutritional programs can help you achieve the five-star rating you need and deserve? Click here to find out how to Create Five-Star Dining Experiences in Healthcare.