Ohio SNFs’ 5 Star Ratings Improve
After an analysis by Abt and Associates for the U.S. Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services showed that SNFs nationally are scoring higher on the 5 Star rating system, OHCA analyzed the 5 Star data on Ohio providers. Comparing the July 2009 data against the July 2012 data for overall rankings, we found that there were 10% fewer one star facilities in 2012, while the number of five star facilities rose by 28%. There also were increases in three and four star facilities and a decrease in SNFs rated two stars. Interestingly, though, contrary to the national trend that showed continued improvement year by year over the entire period, Ohio saw a dip in star ratings from July 2011 to July 2012. Arguably, this period corresponds with Ohio’s sharp Medicaid rate cuts. As is the case for the national data, the changes over time in the Ohio rankings are driven by the staffing and quality measures “stars” because the ratings for survey citations are adjusted artificially to keep the percentages in each star category constant.