Five Star Update to be posted 10/22

On Oct. 22, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) will update its five-star nursing home rating system, which is part of the Nursing Home Compare Web site. CMS recently populated facilities' mailboxes with their preview data. To access your information, visit the Minimum Data Set (MDS) State Welcome page available on the state servers where you submit MDS data. Select the Certification and Survey Provider Enhanced Reports (CASPER) reporting link located at the bottom of the login page. Once in the CASPER reporting system, click on the 'Folders' button and access the Five Star Report in your 'st LTC facid' folder, where "st" is the two-digit postal code of the state in which your facility is located and "facid" is your facility's state-assigned ID.

The helpline, now operating on a quarterly basis, is open effective Oct. 12.