September 27, 2022
On September 26, 2022, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), through the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS), announced it is making additional data publicly available that will provide more information about the ownership of all Medicare-certified nursing homes.
This data will, for the first time, give state licensing officials, state and federal law enforcement, researchers, and the public an enhanced ability to identify common owners of nursing homes across nursing home locations. This information can be linked to other data sources to identify the performance of facilities under common ownership.
The release of this new data is part of HHS and CMS' efforts to implement President Joe Biden's Executive Order on Promoting Competition.
HHS Secretary Xavier Becerra was quoted in a CMS press release saying, "President Biden has made it clear that we must improve the quality of care in our nation's nursing homes - and we are taking unprecedented steps to deliver on his call to action . . . Every family deserves the peace of mind of knowing their loved ones living in nursing homes are receiving the best possible care. We are continuing to make more data publicly available than ever before to improve transparency for researchers, regulators, and loved ones."
The new data will be posted on data.cms.gov and updated monthly to help researchers, states, regulators, and others analyze how ownership of particular nursing homes and groups of nursing homes impacts the quality of care nursing home residents receive.
The new nursing home ownership data will also be accessible to consumers through a link in the ownership section of Care Compare on the Medicare.gov website. The next update of the website is scheduled for September 28, 2022. CMS has stated it will work with consumers to obtain feedback on how best to present provider ownership information in a user-friendly way to support their healthcare decisions.
Click here to access the relevant press release for more information.
