Desert Highlands Care Center
1081 Kathleen Ave, Kingman AZ 86401 · (928) 753-5580 · 66.33% estimated occupancy 1Updated: Aug 1, 2020 · By Sara Levinsohn
Desert Highlands Care Center is an average-sized nursing home located in Kingman, Arizona. Featuring an overall grade of D, this is a well below average nursing home. 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. The only positive thing we can say about this nursing home is that it did not receive any F's in any of the categories we assessed. More information about these categories can be found below.
Additional Details:
Accepts Medicare 1 :
Accepts Medicaid 1 : 120 Beds
CCRC :
For profit - Corporation
Resident Council:
Family Council:
Medical Staff Hours Per Patient (2019)
Facility Inspections
While we gave this place a poor overall rating, we actually gave it a somewhat respectable score in the category of inspections, where it received a B-. This was certainly better than its other category grades. Our inspection ratings account for several factors found on a nursing home's inspection report. One key criteria we rely on is the quantity and severity of deficiencies. While this nursing home had a few deficiencies on its report, none were severe based on CMS' 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.
Nurse Quality
We also awarded this facility a grade of B- for our nursing rating. There are numerous subcategories within this category. Most of the datapoints relate to the quantity and quality of nurse staffing. This nursing home provides 3.2 hours of nursing care per resident per day. This is a much lower figure than we are used to seeing. Lastly, while this place got dinged a bit for its nursing hours, it actually excelled in some of our quality metrics. With fewer than five percent of its residents sustaining pressure ulcers, it performed well in this subcategory.
Short-term Care Quality
This facilities next best category was short-term care. We gave it a grade of B- in this category. This is basically a middle of the pack grade in this category. In our short-term care score, we strive to craft a valuable barometer for rehabilitation. In doing so, we analyze a facility's offerings of highly-skilled nursing services, including both registered nurses and physical therapy, as well as respiratory therapy. This nursing home employs both physical therapists and registered nurses. Not all facilities employ these skilled professionals. Finally, we considered the number of residents who were able to return home from this facility. This place fared better than most nursing homes in the nation with 51.2 percent of its residents returning home.
Long-term Care Quality
The last area we scored is long-term care. For that category, we gave this facility a B-. For residents looking for a permanent residence rather than skilled nursing, long-term care grades are very important. In addition to considering the volume of care provided by nurses and other staff, we analyzed the number of residents vaccinated for pneumonia. This facility gave the vaccine to 99.52153 percent of its patients. The last statistic we assessed is the nursing home's hospitalization rate. We found that this facility had 2.9 hospitalizations per 1,000 long-term resident days. Although this figure is somewhat concerning, this number may be skewed for some nursing homes based on the medical complexity of patients.
Overall Rating Over Time
Compared to national and state averages across all facilities.
Desert Highlands Care Center Quality Metrics
Minimizes Pressure Ulcers
This is the percentage of residents that suffered from a pressure ulcer. Pressure ulcers, also referred to as bed sores, are routinely caused by residents not being moved frequently enough. Better nursing protocols can minimize the number of pressure ulcers sustained by residents in a nursing home.
Percent of Patients with Pressure Ulcers
Lower is Better
Minimizes Serious Falls
This tells you the percentage of long-term residents that had a fall which caused major injury. This is one of the statistics we use in calculating our nursing scores.
Percent of Patients with Serious Falls
Lower is Better
Minimizes Urinary Tract Infections
This datapoint indicates the percent of long-term stay patients that have had a urinary tract infection. UTI's could be an indicator of lower quality nursing care. Nevertheless, this statistic could also be misleading for some nursing homes due to inconsistent reporting standards for UTI's.
Percent of Patients with UTIs
Lower is Better
Appropriately Uses Anti-Psychotic Medication
This indicates the percent of patients who were prescribed antipsychotic medications. While antipsychotic medications may be vital to many residents, it is important to ensure these drugs are being used only where medically required. In limited cases, excessive reliance on these medications may suggest a nursing home is using these medications to subdue residents.
Percent of Patients
Lower is Better
Appropriately Uses Anti-Anxiety Medication
This metric tells you the percentage of long-term patients taking antianxiety medications.
Percent of Patients
Lower is Better
Managing Depression Among Residents
This is the percentage of patients who are demonstrating signs of depression. High rates of depression could imply worse patient care.
Percent of Patients
Lower is Better
Appropriate Vaccine Usage
This datapoint measures the percentage of long-term stay residents who were given the pneumonia and flu vaccines. Respiratory viruses can be deadly for seniors, making these vaccines important for resident well-being.
Percent of Patients
Higher is Better
Residents Maintain Autonomy
This is a measure of the percentage of long-term residents who required increased assistance with activities of daily living over time. Activities of daily living include activities such as dressing and bathing. Some experts would argue that this is a reliable measure of a resident's well-being.
Percentage of Patients
Lower is Better
Ability to Keep Residents Mobile
This metric is a measure of the percentage of long-term care patients that retained mobility levels. Some experts would argue that mobility is vital to residents' mental and physical well-being.
Percentage of Residents
Higher is Better
Hospitalizations
This metric tracks the number of times residents are hospitalized per 1,000 days of patient care.
Hospitalizations per 1,000 resident days
Lower is Better
Short-term Care: Rehospitalizations
This datapoint is a measure of the number of times residents are rehospitalized per 1,000 days of short-term resident care. Keeping residents out of the hospital during rehabilitation is key to restoring the physical well-being of residents.
Percentage of Residents Rehospitalized
Lower is Better
Short-term Care: ER Visits
Measures the number of times residents are sent to the emergency room per thousand days of short-term care. Avoiding emergency medical situations is one way to gauge short-term care.
Percentage of Patients
Lower is Better
Short-term Care: Facilitates Functional Improvement
This tells you the percentage of short-term residents that saw functional improvements, such as enhanced ability to perform activities of daily living.
Percentage of Resident
Higher is Better