Life Care Center of Acton
One Great Road, Acton MA 01720 · (978) 263-9101 · 79.93% estimated occupancy 1Updated: Aug 1, 2020 · By Sara Levinsohn
Life Care Center of Acton is a large nursing home located in Acton, Massachusetts. With an A overall grade, we ranked this facility in the top 20 percent of all nursing homes in the country. You really can not do any better than this nursing home. We also gave this facility strong scores in all of our categories. More information about these categories can be found below.
Additional Details:
Accepts Medicare 1 :
Accepts Medicaid 1 : 155 Beds
CCRC :
For profit - Corporation
Resident Council:
Family Council:
Medical Staff Hours Per Patient (2019)
Facility Inspections
To go along with its strong overall grade, we awarded this nursing home a grade of A for our inspections rating. Inspection ratings take several factors into consideration, including deficiencies and substantiated complaints. You can learn more about each of these issues by reviewing copies of nursing homes' inspection reports. Amazingly, this was one of the few nursing homes in the country that had no deficiencies whatsoever on its inspection report. This is very impressive. Finally, this facility had no substantiated complaints this year from residents, which is an excellent sign.
Long-term Care Quality
Adding to its strong profile, this nursing home also was given a dominant long-term care score, with a score of A-. When facilities receive a grade in this range in long-term care it generally means it's well-staffed and is a quality place to reside on a permanent basis. On top of assessing the quantity of care provided by aids and other staff, we looked at the number of residents vaccinated against pneumonia. This facility vaccinated 100 percent of its residents, which is very impressive. Pneumonia sadly can be a life threatening ailment for nursing home residents so we like it when a facility does not roll the dice on this issue. Clearly, this facility is doing something right in this area as it was able to keep its patients out of the hospital. It had less than one hospitalization per 1,000 long-term resident days, which is a remarkably low number.
Short-term Care Quality
Turning our third category, this facility was awarded a strong short-term care grade. In fact, we gave it a grade of A- in that category. In forming these short-term care ratings, we assess the facility's skilled nursing services, such as those performed by registered nurses, respiratory therapists, physical therapists and other types of therapists. Our purpose is to devise a tool for sizing up the rehabilitation services of different nursing homes. We were pleased to find that this nursing home employs both registered nurses and physical therapists. The same can't be said for all nursing homes. Lastly, we looked at the number of residents who were able to return to the community from this nursing home, which as an area this facility performed much more favorably. This place outperformed the vast majority of nursing homes in the country in this area with 61.1 percent of its residents returning home. This is a significantly higher rate than most facilities.
Nurse Quality
In the final category, this nursing home also was awarded an impressive nursing grade, with an A-. This wrapped up a very impressive profile. Nursing scores are based in large part on quantity of nursing care available. This nursing home provides 3.5 hours of nursing care per resident per day. Finally, our nursing grades also factor in quality-based assessments, such as avoiding major falls. This facility performed well in this area. Avoiding major falls is typically a good indicator that a facility has reliable quality controls in place. Major falls can often be avoided if more nurses aids and better safety protocols are in place.
Overall Rating Over Time
Compared to national and state averages across all facilities.
Life Care Center of Acton Quality Metrics
Minimizes Pressure Ulcers
This metric is an indication of the percentage of long-term care patients who have new or worsened pressure ulcers . We use this statistic in calculating both nursing and long-term care grades.
Percent of Patients with Pressure Ulcers
Lower is Better
Minimizes Serious Falls
This indicates the percentage of patients that suffered from a major fall. Falls leading to serious injuries are considered by many experts to be a measure of the quality of nursing care at a nursing home. Falls are often the result of poor nursing care.
Percent of Patients with Serious Falls
Lower is Better
Minimizes Urinary Tract Infections
This is the percent of residents who suffered from a urinary tract infection. These infections are linked to poorer hygiene.
Percent of Patients with UTIs
Lower is Better
Appropriately Uses Anti-Psychotic Medication
This is a measure of the percentage of long-term patients receiving antipsychotic drugs. While antipsychotic drugs play an important role in caring for many residents, it is important to make sure these medications are being used only where medically required. In limited cases, high levels of antipsychotic drug use may mean a facility is using these drugs to subdue residents.
Percent of Patients
Lower is Better
Appropriately Uses Anti-Anxiety Medication
This figure is an indication of the percentage of long-term care patients that were given antianxiety drugs. These drugs are generally prescribed to patients suffering from depression and anxiety.
Percent of Patients
Lower is Better
Managing Depression Among Residents
This datapoint measures the percentage of long-term care patients exhibiting symptoms of depression.
Percent of Patients
Lower is Better
Appropriate Vaccine Usage
This indicates the percent of patients that received the pneumonia and flu vaccines. Higher vaccination rates should be the norm at this point.
Percent of Patients
Higher is Better
Residents Maintain Autonomy
This is the percent of patients that needed increased assistance with activities of daily living over time. Higher levels of dependence on staff for assistance with activities of daily living may be a sign of decline of a resident's health.
Percentage of Patients
Lower is Better
Ability to Keep Residents Mobile
This is a measure of the percent of long-term stay patients that remained mobile levels.
Percentage of Residents
Higher is Better
Hospitalizations
Measures the number of hospitalizations per thousand days of patient care. Avoiding hospitalizations is critical to maintaining the physical health of nursing home residents.
Hospitalizations per 1,000 resident days
Lower is Better
Short-term Care: Rehospitalizations
Measures the number of times residents are rehospitalized per thousand days of short-term care.
Percentage of Residents Rehospitalized
Lower is Better
Short-term Care: ER Visits
This indicates the number of emergency room visits per 1,000 days of short-term care. There is typically a correlation between keeping patients out of the emergency room and the overall quality of nursing home care.
Percentage of Patients
Lower is Better
Short-term Care: Facilitates Functional Improvement
This indicates 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