COLUMBUS, Ohio -- Ohio's nursing home and assisted living residents gave their facilities good scores for satisfaction in the 2011 Long-term Care Resident Satisfaction Survey conducted under the direction of the Ohio Department of Aging. In the local region, Copeland Oaks in Sebring made the Top 25 list in the satisfaction category.
Nursing home residents gave an 87.1% overall satisfaction rating and assisted living residents gave their providers an 85.9% score i. The current results demonstrate a continuing upward trend for resident satisfaction in both types of care settings since the state began surveying.
"Ohio has taken a national lead in advocating for, and helping long-term care facilities achieve real culture change and provide the high-quality, person-centered care their residents desire and deserve," said Bonnie Kantor-Burman, department director. "Staff, administrators, residents and their families are more interconnected than ever, and the caliber of care is improving as a result."
Residents rated their satisfaction with their facility's environment, activities, administration, direct care/nursing assistants, laundry, meals and dining, social services and therapy, as well as general satisfaction. Some 24 nursing homes and 34 assisted living facilities received a score of 100 on key questions: "Overall, do you like this facility?" and "Would you recommend this facility to a family member or friend?"
Obtaining the highest overall score on the Ohio Nursing Homes Top 25 list for resident satisfaction is Otterbein North Shore in Lakeside, with a score of 98.65. The tops in satisfaction among Ohio Residential Care Facilities (assisted living) is Grace Brethren Village in Englewood, with a score of 100. Copeland Oaks is also on this list with a score of 97.8. The overall satisfaction score is the average score reported for all survey items.
Beginning this year, the amount of a nursing home's payment that is tied to achieving quality will increase from 1.7% of the Medicaid reimbursement rate to 9.7%. Satisfaction survey scores will be used to determine eligibility for three of the new measures: Overall satisfaction, choice in rising and retiring times and the ability of residents to personalize their rooms. Of 957 participating nursing homes, 256 currently would qualify for these three measures.
"Working together as staff, administrators, residents, families and advocates, we can and will achieve excellence in long-term care for all Ohioans," added Beverley Laubert, the state's Long-term Care Ombudsman. "Consumers and their families are engaging more and more with their care providers, and the providers are responding. That is a win-win for all Ohioans."
This was the third time the state has conducted a resident satisfaction survey of residential care facilities, better known as assisted living facilities. Ohio's survey is the only statewide assisted living consumer satisfaction survey in the nation, officials said. Though results are not used in reimbursement formulas for residential care facilities, their availability on the Long-term Care Consumer Guide website helps the public make informed decisions in a tightly competitive market. Residents of nursing homes and assisted living facilities will be surveyed again in 2013.
Full results are posted on the Long-term Care Consumer Guide website.
Published by The Business Journal, Youngstown, Ohio.