More Information on Nursing Homes

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More current nursing home information can be obtained from the following sources:

Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services. On the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) Web site, click on "Compare nursing homes in your area" to go to Nursing Home Compare. There you will find specific information about individual nursing homes as well as averages by state and nationally. Click here for helpful related Web sites.

Health Care Financing Review. The Health Care Financing Review is the subscription journal of the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services. This journal seeks to contribute to an improved understanding of the Medicare and Medicaid programs and the U.S. health care system by presenting information and analyses on a broad range of health care financing and delivery issues. The journal highlights the results of policy-relevant research and provides a forum for a broad range of viewpoints to stimulate discussion among a diverse audience that includes policymakers, planners, administrators, insurers, researchers, and health care providers. It is published quarterly, with an additional statistical supplement issue every year.

National Nursing Home Survey. The National Nursing Home Survey (NNHS) (1973–2004) is a continuing series of national sample surveys of nursing homes, their residents, and their staff conducted by the National Center for Health Statistics (NCHS). The NNHS was conducted in 1973–74, 1977, 1985, 1995, 1997, 1999, and 2004. 

Medicare Current Beneficiary Survey. The Medicare Current Beneficiary Survey (MCBS) is a continuous, multipurpose survey of a nationally representative sample of aged, disabled, and institutionalized Medicare beneficiaries.  MCBS, which is sponsored by the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, is the only comprehensive source of information on the health status, health care use and expenditures, health insurance coverage, and socioeconomic and demographic characteristics of the entire spectrum of Medicare beneficiaries. Numerous tables are provided annually.

Data Compendium from the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services. The annual Data Compendium from the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services provides key statistics about CMS programs and health care spending.  The tables provide expert analysis of the data CMS collects each year about its programs and the nation's health care system. The Data Compendium contains historic, current, and projected data on Medicare enrollment and Medicaid recipients, expenditures, and utilization. Data pertaining to budget, administrative and operating costs, individual income, financing, and health care providers and suppliers are also included.  National data not specific to the Medicare or Medicaid programs may be found throughout the publications.

MedPAC Reports on Skilled Nursing Facilities. To access the Medicare Payment Advisory Commission (MedPAC) research reports on skilled nursing facilities, go to the MedPAC Web site and click on Research Areas >Post-Acute Care >Skilled Nursing Facilities. MedPAC is an independent federal body established by the Balanced Budget Act of 1997 (P.L. 105-33) to advise the U.S. Congress on issues affecting the Medicare program. In addition to advising Congress on payments to private health plans participating in Medicare and providers in Medicare's traditional fee-for-service program, MedPAC is also tasked with analyzing access to care, quality of care, and other issues affecting Medicare. 
 
Nursing Facilities, Staffing, Residents, and Facility Deficiencies. The most recent version of Nursing Facilities, Staffing, Residents, and Facility Deficiencies is available from the National Citizens' Coalition for Nursing Home Reform (NCCNHR) library (http://www.nccnhr.org/public/50_155_433.CFM). The book displays trends in U.S. nursing homes by state from 1998 through 2004. The data are from the federal Online Survey and Certification System (OSCAR) reports that are completed at the time of the annual nursing home surveys by state licensing and certification programs for the U.S. Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services. The book is produced annually by Charlene Harrington, Helen Carillo, and Cynthia Mercado-Scott.

American Health Care Association. The American Health Care Association (AHCA) is a non-profit federation of affiliated state health organizations, together representing more than 10,000 non-profit and for-profit assisted living, nursing facility, developmentally disabled, and subacute care providers that care for more than 1.5 million elderly and disabled individuals nationally. The AHCA (http://www.ahca.org/research/index.html) Health Services Research and Evaluation group provides impact assessments of current and proposed public policy, supports the profession's need for standardized quantitative measures of quality, and provides statistics that describe the long-term care sector.