Nhc Healthcare - Bluffton
3039 Okatie Highway, Okatie SC 29909 · (843) 705-8220 · 94.41% estimated occupancy 1Updated: Aug 1, 2020 · By Sara Levinsohn
Nhc Healthcare - Bluffton is an average-sized nursing home located in Okatie, South Carolina. With an overall grade of B, this appears to be a good nursing home. This place truly has plenty of good features. This nursing home's impressive profile was highlighted by its inspection rating, which is addressed in the next section.
Additional Details:
Accepts Medicare 1 :
Accepts Medicaid 1 : 120 Beds
CCRC :
For profit - Limited Liability company
Resident Council:
Family Council:
Medical Staff Hours Per Patient (2019)
Facility Inspections
This facility received a strong overall score as described above, but we especially wanted to point out its nearly flawless inspections in recent years. We gave it an impressive grade of A+ in this category. We take several aspects of a facility's inspection report into consideration in determining our inspection ratings. One key factor is deficiencies. It should be noted that the severity of these deficiencies is arguably more important than the quantity of deficiencies, as some of these can be relatively minor. This particular nursing home had just a single deficiency on its inspection report and it was not one deemed to pose a threat to patient health or safety. Finally, this facility had no substantiated complaints this year from residents, which is an excellent sign.
Long-term Care Quality
Another one of this facility's above average category grades came in the area of long-term care. We gave them one of our more positive scores in that area, with a grade of B+. Facilities that receive this kind of grade in this category typically provide consistent around the clock care to ensure patients are well cared for. On top of assessing the amount of care provided by aids and other staff, we analyzed the number of residents vaccinated against pneumonia. This nursing home vaccinated 99.570816 percent of its patients, which is much higher than the majority of nursing homes. Clearly, this nursing home is doing something right in this area as it was able to keep its patients out of the hospital. Indeed, it had less than one hospitalization per 1,000 long-term resident days, which is a remarkably low number.
Short-term Care Quality
This facility also received a favorable short-term care score. In fact, we awarded it an above average grade of B+ in this category. In computing these short-term care grades, we look at the nursing home's skilled nursing services, such as those performed by registered nurses, occupational therapists, physical therapists and other types of therapists. The purpose is to formulate a scale for comparing the rehabilitation services of different nursing homes. This nursing home boosted its score in this category by offering more than 50% more physical therapy hours to its residents than the average facility. The final datapoint we assessed in this area is the percentage of residents who who were able to eventually return home from the nursing home. We found that it performed as well as just about any facility in South Carolina in this area with 59.4 percent of its residents returning home. At most nursing homes, fewer than half of their short-term residents are able to return home.
Nurse Quality
The next area we analyzed is nursing, turned out to be this nursing home's worst area. We awarded this nursing home a D in that category. This really is one of the few dings of a quality profile. Nursing scores are based in large part on levels of nurse staffing. This nursing home averages 3.8 hours of nursing care per resident per day, which is below the national average. Unfortunately, this nursing home also didn't fare as well as we hoped in some of the quality-based metrics we looked at for this category.
Overall Rating Over Time
Compared to national and state averages across all facilities.
Nhc Healthcare - Bluffton Quality Metrics
Minimizes Pressure Ulcers
This statistic is an indication of the percentage of long-term patients who are suffering from pressure ulcers . We consider this statistic when determining our nursing grades.
Percent of Patients with Pressure Ulcers
Lower is Better
Minimizes Serious Falls
This is the percentage of patients who have had a fall leading to major injury.
Percent of Patients with Serious Falls
Lower is Better
Minimizes Urinary Tract Infections
This indicates the percentage of residents that sustained a urinary tract infection. UTI's are considered to be a measure of the quality of nursing care . UTI's are often linked to a facility with lower levels of hygiene. Nevertheless, this metric may also be skewed for certain facilities due to inconsistent reporting standards for UTI's.
Percent of Patients with UTIs
Lower is Better
Appropriately Uses Anti-Psychotic Medication
This is the percent of residents who were prescribed antipsychotic medications. While antipsychotic medications may be vital to many patients, it is important to make sure these medications are being used appropriately. In limited situations, high levels of antipsychotic drug use may indicate a nursing home is using these medications to control patient behavior.
Percent of Patients
Lower is Better
Appropriately Uses Anti-Anxiety Medication
This metric gauges the percent of long-term care patients which are prescribed antianxiety drugs. These medications are generally used to treat residents experiencing depression and anxiety.
Percent of Patients
Lower is Better
Managing Depression Among Residents
This indicates the percent of patients exhibiting signs of depression. Increased rates of depression may reveal a less hospitable environment.
Percent of Patients
Lower is Better
Appropriate Vaccine Usage
This indicates the percent of patients that have received the pneumonia and flu vaccines. Higher vaccination rates should be demanded by residents.
Percent of Patients
Higher is Better
Residents Maintain Autonomy
This tells you the percent of patients that needed more assistance with activities of daily living over time. Higher levels of dependence on staff for assistance with activities of daily living may indicate the deterioration of a resident's well-being.
Percentage of Patients
Lower is Better
Ability to Keep Residents Mobile
This tells you the percentage of patients who maintained mobility over time. Retaining mobility can be a great sign for residents' well-being.
Percentage of Residents
Higher is Better
Hospitalizations
This datapoint measures the number of times residents are hospitalized per 1,000 days of patient care. Avoiding hospitalizations is key to the physical health of residents.
Hospitalizations per 1,000 resident days
Lower is Better
Short-term Care: Rehospitalizations
This datapoint is a measure of the number of rehospitalizations per 1,000 days of short-term resident care.
Percentage of Residents Rehospitalized
Lower is Better
Short-term Care: ER Visits
This is the number of times residents are sent to the emergency room per 1,000 days of short-term care. There is generally 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 datapoint is a measure of the percent of short-term care residents who experienced functional improvements.
Percentage of Resident
Higher is Better