Desert Highlands Care Center

Nursing Home

Updated Jun 1, 2022 by Nick Reese

Historical Rating

See Rating Overview

Desert Highlands Care Center's website

1081 Kathleen Ave,
Kingman AZ 86401

(928) 753-5580

63.91% estimated occupancy ¹

Note: Desert Highlands Care Center has been flagged for abuse in the past 12 months. We have capped this facility's overall grade accordingly.

Desert Highlands Care Center is an average-sized nursing home in Kingman, Arizona. Featuring an overall grade of D, this is a well below average facility. If you are not satisfied with this facility's low overall grade, you may find you have slim pickings in Kingman. The city has just two other nursing homes. We would not blame you if you are ready to stop reading and find another nursing home. However, if you want to learn more about this place's category grades, inspection reports are discussed in the next section.

Quick Details

Accepts Medicare ¹
Accepts Medicaid ¹
Is CCRC
Has Resident Council
No Family Council
For profit - Corporation
Offers Respite Care
Offers Inpatient Rehab

Specialized Services

Medication Management
Transportation
Medical Transportation
Speech Therapy
Occupational Therapy
Physical Therapy

Registered Staff Hours

Medical Staff Hours Per Patient (2021)

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Facility Inspections

Although we did not have many favorable things to say about this place's overall score, it earned a respectable government inspection report this year. It received a decent score in that category with a B-. Our inspection grades account for several factors included in a facility's inspection reports. One key criteria we rely on is the number and severity of deficiencies. While this nursing home had some deficiencies on its inspection report, none were serious based on CMS' deficiency scale. Lastly, this nursing home was cited by CMS for possible abuse or neglect. This is generally a really bad sign. We would never recommend this facility.

Short-term Care Quality

This facility received its second best category score in the category of short-term care. We awarded this facility a grade of B- in this category, which is a reasonably acceptable score. In determining our short-term care ratings, we look at a nursing home's levels of skilled nursing, which includes registered nurses, physical therapists respiratory therapists and other highly trained professionals. This category is more often than not a reliable assessment of the facility's rehabilitation. Unfortunately, this facility was below average in terms of its quantity of physical therapy and registered nurse hours provided to its residents based on the metrics we assessed. The real question is whether this adversely affected quality of care. Finally, we considered the number of patients who were able to return to the community from this nursing home. We found that 5.2 percent of this facility's residents returned home. At most facilities, closer to half of their residents are able to return home so this figure is below average.

Does this page answer your questions about Desert Highlands Care Center?

Long-term Care Quality

This facility's next best category ended up being long-term care. In that category, we gave this nursing home a B-. For prospective residents looking for a permanent residence as opposed to skilled nursing, long-term care is a very important category. After we finished assessing the volume of nursing care, we then looked at the facility's vaccination data. We were optimistic to learn that this facility vaccinates 100 percent of its patients against pneumonia. This nursing home also excelled at keeping its residents out of the hospital. Indeed, it had less than one hospitalization per 1,000 long-term resident days, which is a remarkably low figure.

Nurse Quality

Moving on to the last area, this nursing home was awarded a respectable nursing grade of C. The nursing score is based on many subcategories. The most heavily weighted variable is the number of hours nurses spend with residents. This nursing home provides 0.4 hours of nursing care per resident per day. This is a much lower figure than we are used to seeing. Despite having low quantities of nursing care, this nursing home surprisingly fared better in some of the quality-based metrics we looked at. In fact, it performed well in terms of avoiding major falls and pressure ulcers.

Rating Over Time

Compared to national and state averages across all facilities.

Desert Highlands Care Center Quality Metrics

Minimizes Pressure Ulcers

In Desert Highlands Care Center, 9.03% of Patients had Pressure Ulcers

This is the percent of patients that suffered from a pressure ulcer. Pressure ulcers are considered by many experts to be a measure of the quality of nursing care at a nursing home. Pressure ulcers, which are also called bed sores, are often caused by patients not being moved frequently enough.

Minimizes Serious Falls

In Desert Highlands Care Center, 2.25% of Patients had Serious Falls

This datapoint indicates the percentage of long-term care patients which have sustained falls leading to severe injury. This is one of the statistics we use in calculating our nursing scores.

Minimizes Urinary Tract Infections

In Desert Highlands Care Center, 1.58% of Patients had UTIs

This tells you the percent of patients that have had a urinary tract infection. Urinary tract infections are considered to be a measure of nursing care at a nursing home. UTI's are often linked to a facility with worst hygiene practices. However, this metric could also be misleading for certain facilities due to different reporting standards for infections.

Appropriately Uses Anti-Psychotic Medication

In Desert Highlands Care Center, 11.13% of Patients use Anti-Psychotic Medication

This indicates the percent of residents who were given antipsychotic medications. While antipsychotic drugs may be helpful for many residents, it is important to confirm these medications are being used appropriately. In some situations, excessive reliance on these medications may indicate that a facility is using these medications to subdue residents.

Appropriately Uses Anti-Anxiety Medication

In Desert Highlands Care Center, 16.92% of Patients use Anti-Anxiety Medication

This metric is an indication of the percent of long-term patients who are prescribed antianxiety medication. These drugs are prescribed to patients suffering from depression and anxiety.

Managing Depression Among Residents

In Desert Highlands Care Center, 2.87% of Patients

This is the percentage of residents showing depressive symptoms. Higher rates of depression may imply a less hospitable environment.

Appropriate Vaccine Usage

In Desert Highlands Care Center, 81.19% of Patients

This datapoint is a measure of the percentage of long-term stay patients who were given the flu and pneumonia vaccines. Respiratory viruses can be very dangerous for nursing home residents, making these types of vaccines vital to patient care.

Residents Maintain Autonomy

In Desert Highlands Care Center, 12.86% Percentage of Patients

This datapoint measures the percentage of long-term stay patients that required additional assistance with activities of daily living over time. ADL's include activities such as taking medications and continence. Many argue this is a measure of a patient's well-being.

Ability to Keep Residents Mobile

In Desert Highlands Care Center, 23.01% Percentage of Residents

This is the percentage of patients who retained mobility levels over time. Optimizing mobility can be a great sign for residents' health.

Hospitalizations

In Desert Highlands Care Center, 1.32 Hospitalizations per 1,000 resident days

This metric is a measure of the number of hospitalizations per 1,000 days of patient care. Avoiding the hospital is key to preserving the physical health of patients.

Short-term Care: Rehospitalizations

In Desert Highlands Care Center, 23.01 Percentage of Residents Rehospitalized

This indicates the number of times residents are rehospitalized per 1,000 days of short-term care. There is usually a correlation between keeping patients out of the hospital and the quality of rehabilitation services.

Short-term Care: ER Visits

In Desert Highlands Care Center, 10.95 Percentage of Patients

This indicates the number of emergency room visits per 1,000 days of short-term care.

Short-term Care: Facilitates Functional Improvement

In Desert Highlands Care Center, 73.63% Percentage of Resident

This indicates the percent of short-term residents that experienced functional improvements, such as enhanced ability to perform activities of daily living.

Nearby Hospitals

Kingman Regional Medical CenterAcute Care Hospitals 0.56 miles away3269 Stockton Hill Road Kingman Arizona 86409Government - Hospital District or Authority(928) 757-2101