Glossary of Terms
1.) Location: address of facility. Neighborhood information has been included for your convenience.
2.) Website: the facility’s website address, if available. The “parent company” website address has been provided for some facilities that are owned/operated by another organization, but don’t have their own individual website.
3.) DPH Score: the Massachusetts Department of Public Health performance score based on their annual inspections (also referred to as "surveys"). Scores for facilities on BostonNursingHomeRankings.com range from 132 to 100. 132 = perfect score (meaning that the facility is in full compliance with state and federal regulations). The average score for facilities in Massachusetts = 123.
4.) Bonus Quality Points: the points given based on analyzing the several factors that contribute to nursing home quality: staffing hours (Certified Nursing Assistants/CNAs and Licensed Nurses); ownership characteristics (whether a facility is a chain or individually owned; whether it's a non-profit or for-profit organization); and health deficiency data supplied by Medicare. The higher the bonus points, the better. See our methodology page for more details.
5.) Customer Satisfaction Score:Results of a consumer survey, conducted by the Mass Dept' of Public Health, indicating satisfaction levels with nursing homes. The survey asked about how satisfied family members were in the following categories: staff and administration, physical aspects of the home, activities provided to residents, personal care, food and meals and residents’ personal rights. Respondents rated their satisfaction on a scale of 1-5, with 1 = very dissatisfied; 2 = dissatisfied; 3 = neither satisfied nor dissatisfied; 4 = satisfied; and 5 = very satisfied. Data is from 2005 and data is not available for all nursing homes.
6.) Number of Beds: the number of Medicare or Medicaid certified beds. “Certified” means that they have met the requirements of Medicare and/or Medicaid. Please note that some facilities can have a combination of certified and private pay beds.
7.) Long-Term Care: A “yes” or “no” indicates whether or not the facility provides long-term convalescent care (also known as “custodial care”).
8.) Short-Term Rehab: A “yes” or “no” indicates whether or not the facility provides short-term rehabilitation. Short-term rehab is typically covered by Medicare for up to 100 days. To quality, an individual must have at least a 3-night stay at a hospital prior to entering the nursing facility. An example of a short-term rehab patient is someone who has a knee replacement surgery and then needs follow-up rehab services before going home. Sometimes, elderly patients first enter a facility for short-term rehab and then realize they will need to stay long-term due to safety issues.
9.) Complaints: a "Yes" value means that facility was cited for a deficiency related to a complaint/serious incident (data supplied by the Massachusetts Dep't of Public Health, covers the period from 1998-2006). Note: many facilities may receive complaints/allegations of serious incidents, but facilities are only cited (given a “yes” value) if an investigation determines actual wrong-doing (e.g., investigation of allegation found that abuse or negligence occurred). If a facility did not receive serious complaints or the outcome of an investigation found the complaint invalid, then a “no” value is given.
It's important to recognize that all nursing homes aren't perfect. Approximately 40% of nursing homes in our sample received valid complaints, despite their best efforts at providing quality care. When evaluating nursing homes, complaints in general are a significant factor to consider. But, how the facility responded to correct the problem is equally important. What plan of action did they put in place to prevent it from happening again? Was the problem an isolated incident or recurring one? How much harm (or potential harm) did it cause? These are all good questions to ask when researching a nursing home.
More detailed information on complaints/deficiencies given to specific nursing homes can be found at the Massachusetts Department of Public Health and Medicare websites.
10.) Type of Ownership: indicates whether the facility is a non-profit or for-profit organization, and if it has a religious affiliation, this is indicated by noting “church-related.” While every nursing facility is unique and should be judged accordingly, this information has been captured because the ownership structure can sometimes have an impact on the type and quality of services provided. For example, some people would argue that a non-profit facility is going to have a different distinguishing character because it’s less concerned with making a profit on their services.
11.) Chain: a "Yes" value indicates that the facility has two or more homes under single ownership or operation. A "No" value means that the nursing home is independently owned and operated.
12.) CNA Hours Per Resident Per Day: this refers to the average daily hours and minutes worked by the CNAs (certified nursing assistants), divided by the number of residents. Of course, the actual amount of care each resident receives will vary, depending on their individual needs. These averages, however, do provide some reflection on staffing ratios. These values are important to take into consideration because CNAs provide the most direct care to residents. The higher the average, the better.
13.) Nursing Hours Per Resident Per Day: this refers to the average daily hours and minutes worked by the Licensed Nursing staff, divided by the number of residents. Of course, the actual amount of care each resident receives will vary, depending on their individual needs. These averages, however, do provide some reflection on staffing ratios. The higher the average, the better.
14.) Useful Info: additional information that may be helpful when choosing/evaluating a facility.