MapMuse - Locate Nursing Homes Near You

...therapies following an accident or illness. In the US, nursing homes are required to have a licensed nurse on duty 24 hours a day, and during at least one shift each day, one of those nurses must be a Registered Nurse. In April, 2005 there were a total of 16,094 nursing homes in the United States, down from 16,516 in December, 2002. Some states have nursing homes that are called nursing facilities (NF), which do not have beds certified for Medicare patients, but can only treat patients whose payments source is Private Pay or Medicaid.

Difference between a SNF and a nursing home

A SNF is an institution or a distinct part of an institution, which is primarily engaged in providing skilled nursing care or rehabilitation services that will enable rehabilitation of injured, disabled, or sick persons. Hospitals often have arrangements with SNFs to provide follow up care after a patient no longer needs the level of services that an acute hospital provides. The patient is sent to a SNF to get skilled care / rehabilitation until they are able to return home (or are at a state where further improvement is no longer possible).

A nursing home is residence facility that provides a room, meals, and help with activities of daily living and recreation. Generally, nursing home residents have physical or mental problems that keep them from living on their own. They usually require daily assistance.

In general, SNF care is covered under health insurance plans and Medicare, where nursing home care is not. Many patients who live in nursing homes often exhaust their personal finances at some point, and in the U.S.A., once that happens, they are eligible for Medicaid (care for the poor) which will pay the nursing home for the care they provide. However, many nursing homes would argue that the amount Medicaid pays does not cover the cost they face in providing that care.

Government/Regulatory Oversight

For United States homes, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services has a website which allows users to see how well facilities perform in certain metrics (see Nursing Home Compare in the link below). Homes in England are regulated by the Commission for Social Care Inspection.

All nursing homes in the United States that receive Medicare and/or Medicaid funding are subject to federal regulations. People who inspect nursing homes are called surveyors, or most commonly: state surveyors.

The Minimum Data Set (MDS) is part of the U.S. federally mandated process for clinical assessment of all residents in Medicare or Medicaid certified nursing homes. This process provides a comprehensive assessment of each resident's functional capabilities and helps nursing home staff identify health problems.