In an effort to make nursing home ownership information more transparent and readily available to the public, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) started compiling ownership data on Care Compare.
But, the agency’s web-based tool falls short of transparency and ease of access goals, according to a study published by the U.S. Government Accountability Office (GAO).
Information presented on Care Compare doesn’t align with the “characteristics of effective transparency tools,” GAO found. For one, the site doesn’t allow consumers to easily identify relationships among different parties – common ownership and patterns related to quality under common ownership aren’t apparent.
CMS first started posting ownership data in April, as a part of the Biden administration’s efforts to carry out reform initiatives announced a year ago. The agency expanded efforts to show common ownership in September.
Data includes owners for-profit or nonprofit status, names of individual and organization owners, and chain ownership.
“It is difficult for consumers to know whether a given owner is associated with nursing homes of high or low quality,” GAO reported. “In addition, Care Compare uses ownership terminology, such as ‘5% or greater indirect ownership interest,’ that is not well defined and could be confusing for consumers.”
In its recommendations, GAO suggested CMS organize ownership information, allowing consumers to identify and examine quality ratings under common ownership. CMS should have lists of facilities that fall under common ownership complete with star ratings, referring to the five-star quality rating system; health inspections, quality measures and staffing are each taken into account to come up with a rating from one to five stars.
The agency needs to use “plain language” to define key terms as well. Overall, GAO said CMS committed itself to improving transparency to consumers via a “user-friendly manner.”
The Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) concurred with these recommendations, noting that CMS is considering other options for improving usability and transparency of ownership information on Care Compare.
“HHS also stated that CMS is obtaining feedback from consumers on how to best present provider ownership information in a user-friendly way on Care Compare to support their health care decisions,” GAO reported.
In its study, GAO reviewed CMS documentation, interviewed CMS officials, consumer groups and researchers.
