Dubuque Specialty Care is an average-sized non-profit nursing home located in Dubuque, Iowa. We gave it an overall grade of B-, which is a middle of the pack score. Based on our assessment, there are certainly far worse places out there. One of the major highlights of this nursing home's report card is its remarkable inspection score, which is addressed in the next paragraph.
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Dubuque Specialty Care
- Nursing Home
Updated Apr 1, 2023 by Nick Reese
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- Accepts Medicare 1
- Accepts Medicaid 1
- No CCRC
- No Resident Council
- No Family Council
- Non profit - Corporation
- Offers Hospice
- Offers Respite Care
- Offers Inpatient Rehab
- Offers Outpatient Rehab
Specialized Services
- Medication Management
- Speech Therapy
- IV Antibiotic Therapy
- Wound Care
- Occupational Therapy
- Physical Therapy
- Respiratory Therapy
- Nutritional Counseling
- Recreational Therapy
- Pain Management
- Lymphedema Care
- Total Parenteral Nutrition
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Registered Staff Hours
Facility Inspections
The primary reason this nursing home received a decent overall score is its excellent health inspections in recent years. We gave them one of our higher grades in that area, with a grade of A. This is a much better score than the place's overall score, which was decent but not in the elite range. Inspection grades are based on several pieces of information located in the a nursing home's recent inspection reports. Places that excel in this category typically have few deficiencies on those reports. Most importantly, these places should not have any severe deficiencies which are associated with risks to patient safety. While this place had some deficiencies on its report, none were major deficiencies based on CMS' deficiency scale. We should point out that deficiency-free inspection reports are rare in this industry.
Short-term Care Quality
This facility also was given a positive grade in our short-term care category. We awarded this nursing home a better than average grade of B in this area. In computing our short-term care grades, we assess the nursing home's levels of skilled nursing services, which includes registered nurses, physical therapists speech therapists and other highly skilled individuals. This category is more often than not a solid assessment of a nursing home's rehabilitation. Fortunately, it appear that this facility has registered nurses on staff. Not every nursing home employs these types of nurses. However, according to the information this nursing home provided, it does not look like the facility employs physical therapists. Lastly, we considered the percentage of patients that ultimately returned home from this facility. We found that 5.8 percent of this facility's patients were able to return home.
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Nurse Quality
This facility's next best category grade came in the area of nursing. In that category, we gave this nursing home a grade of C. Our nursing score consists of a handful of factors, but the main consideration is the level of nurse hours spent with patients. This nursing home averages 0.3 hours of nursing care per patient daily, which is well below average. Finally, we also assessed several nursing quality measures. Although this place got docked a bit for its nursing hours, it actually excelled in a few of these quality-based metrics. With fewer than five percent of its patients experiencing pressure ulcers, it did well in this statistic. This is often a good indicator of quality nursing care. Pressure ulcers can many times be avoided by providing better nursing care, such as having a policy of turning patients even once per day.
Long-term Care Quality
Switching gears to the last category, this nursing home really did not fare very well. With a rock bottom grade of F in long-term care, this was its poorest category. In a long-term care environment, the facility's primary objective is to keep patients as healthy and safe as possible. This is different than skilled nursing or short-term care where the goal is to rehabilitate patients. After assessing the quantity of care provided by nurses and other staff, we then looked at the facility's vaccination data. This nursing home vaccinated 96.62447 percent of its residents against pneumonia, which is more than most nursing homes. Surprisingly, this facility was able to limit hospitalizations. With just 0.01 hospitalizations per one thousand long-term resident days, this facility has fewer hospitalizations than the average nursing home. Unfortunately, some of its other scores in this category were not as favorable as these.
Rating Over Time
Compared to national and state averages across all facilities.
Dubuque Specialty Care Quality Metrics
Minimizes Pressure Ulcers
In Dubuque Specialty Care, 6.16% of Patients had Pressure Ulcers
This indicates the percentage of patients who have had a pressure ulcer. Pressure ulcers are considered by many in the nursing home industry to be a barometer of the quality of nursing care at a nursing home. Pressure ulcers, which are also referred to as bed sores, are routinely caused by residents not being moved frequently enough.
Minimizes Serious Falls
In Dubuque Specialty Care, 3.87% of Patients had Serious Falls
This indicates the percent of patients that suffered from a major fall. Falls leading to serious injuries are considered by many in the nursing home industry to be a measure of the quality of nursing care . Major falls leading to injury are often the result of lower levels of patient supervision.
Minimizes Urinary Tract Infections
In Dubuque Specialty Care, 3.28% of Patients had UTIs
This metric measures the percent of long-term stay residents that have sustained a UTI. Although a higher rate of these infections may reflect poorly on a facility's nursing care, it is problematic to compare different facilities due to facilities having reporting standards.
Appropriately Uses Anti-Psychotic Medication
In Dubuque Specialty Care, 17.54% of Patients use Anti-Psychotic Medication
This statistic is a measure of the percentage of long-term residents receiving antipsychotic drugs. While antipsychotic medications play an important role in caring for many residents, it is important to confirm these medications are being used only where medically required. In limited cases, increased usage of these drugs may mean that a facility is using these drugs to control patient behavior.
Appropriately Uses Anti-Anxiety Medication
In Dubuque Specialty Care, 19.26% of Patients use Anti-Anxiety Medication
This datapoint is a measure of the percentage of long-term care residents taking antianxiety medications.
Managing Depression Among Residents
In Dubuque Specialty Care, 4.67% of Patients
This datapoint measures the percentage of long-term care residents who are showing depressive symptoms. Some believe this is a reasonable measure of resident quality of life.
Appropriate Vaccine Usage
In Dubuque Specialty Care, 93.67% of Patients
This tells you the percent of residents who have received the flu and pneumonia vaccines. Higher vaccination rates should be the norm at this point.
Residents Maintain Autonomy
In Dubuque Specialty Care, 17.07% Percentage of Patients
This tells you the percentage of patients who needed increased assistance with activities of daily living over time.
Ability to Keep Residents Mobile
In Dubuque Specialty Care, 16.9% Percentage of Residents
This metric measures the percent of long-term patients that maintained mobility. Many would argue that the ability to move around is critical to patients well-being.
Hospitalizations
In Dubuque Specialty Care, 1.48 Hospitalizations per 1,000 resident days
This indicates the number of hospitalizations per 1,000 days of care.
Short-term Care: Rehospitalizations
In Dubuque Specialty Care, 16.9 Percentage of Residents Rehospitalized
This metric is a measure of the number of times residents are rehospitalized per 1,000 days of short-term resident care.
Short-term Care: ER Visits
In Dubuque Specialty Care, 12.73 Percentage of Patients
This indicates the number of times residents are sent to the emergency room per thousand days of short-term patient care.
Short-term Care: Facilitates Functional Improvement
In Dubuque Specialty Care, 77.73% Percentage of Resident
This is the percentage of short-term stay patients that saw functional improvements, such as with activities of daily living.
Nearby Hospitals
- Finley HospitalAcute Care Hospitals 1.65 miles away350 North Grandview Avenue Dubuque Iowa 52001Voluntary non-profit - Private(563) 582-1881
- Mercyone Dubuque Medical CenterAcute Care Hospitals 2.23 miles away250 Mercy Drive Dubuque Iowa 52001Voluntary non-profit - Church(563) 589-8000
- Midwest Medical CenterCritical Access Hospitals 13.57 miles away1 Medical Center Drive Galena Illinois 61036Voluntary non-profit - Private(815) 777-1340
- Southwest Health CenterCritical Access Hospitals 19.15 miles away1400 East Side Rd Platteville Wisconsin 53818Voluntary non-profit - Private(608) 348-2331
Nearby Dialysis
- Tri- State Dialysis - Dubuque1.65 miles away1500 Delhi St #2100 Dubuque Iowa 52001CMS Rating: 5 stars Dialysis Stations: 32 (563) 589-4033
- Tri State Dialysis - Platteville19.71 miles away1250 E Business Highway 151, Suite B Platteville Wisconsin 53818Dialysis Stations: 12 (608) 348-5064