U.S. Nursing Homes Get "Zagat" Rated by Feds

For a listing of the ratings by state, please click here. By offering ratings to each nursing home, it gives a clear rating of the quality of the home. Though a visit is always encouraged, soon people would be able to choose a nursing home much like choosing a place for vacation. What is particularly interesting about this report is that non-profit oranizations take better care of their clients than for profit organzations. This is probably because non-profits are so tied into keeping their non-profit status that a system of checks and balances in high order. An analysis of nearly 16,000 nursing homes reveals for-profit homes are more likely to provide inferior care than their non-profit rivals, according to a USA TODAY examination of the federal government's first ratings of the homes' performance. The new Zagat-like rating system, released today by the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, assigns homes one to five stars for quality, staffing and health inspections, plus an overall score. What do you think of the rating system? How will it affect U.S. nursing homes?