Piedmont Crossing

In addition to faring well overall, this facility earned nearly flawless government inspections. As a result, it received one of our highest scores in that area with an A+. Inspection ratings weigh several factors found on a facility's inspection report. One key criteria we look at is the quantity and severity of deficiencies. Nursing homes with higher grades in this area generally have very few of these severe deficiencies. While this nursing home had some minor dings on its inspection report, it had zero severe deficiencies. Severe deficiencies are labeled as categories G, H, I, J, K and L. This tells you that CMS did not deem any of the deficiencies on this facility's report to pose an imminent threat to patient health or safety. We should point out that deficiency-free inspection reports are rare in the industry.

Among this facility's other accomplishments is its superb short-term care grade. It received one of our more favorable scores in that area, with a score of A-. In forming our short-term care grades, we quantify the facility's skilled nursing services, such as those performed by registered nurses, occupational therapists, physical therapists and other types of therapists. The goal is to formulate a measure for comparing the rehabilitation services of nursing homes. Fortunately, it appear that this facility employs registered nurses. Not all nursing homes employs these skilled professionals. On the other hand, based on the data this nursing home provided, it does not look like the facility employs physical therapists. The last datapoint we assessed in this category is the number of patients who were able to leave the nursing home and return to the community. We found that 5.6 percent of this nursing home's residents returned home.

In addition, this facility also was awarded favorable long-term care grades this year. In fact, we gave them one of our better scores in that category, with a score of B. Long-term care scores in this range generally require both around the clock care from nurses and aids, as well as quality routine medical care. Once we assessed the quantity of nursing care, we next considered the nursing home's vaccination record. This facility vaccinated 99.619774 percent of its residents for pneumonia, which is what we like to see. Pneumonia sadly can be a life threatening illness for nursing home residents so we strongly prefer when a nursing home does not leave its residents vulnerable. Clearly, this nursing home is doing something right in this area as it also excelled at keeping 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.

The next category we scored was nursing, where we gave it a favorable grade of B. This facility truly didn't have any weaknesses. When determining our nursing ratings, we assess both the number of hours nurses spend with residents and the skill levels of those nurses. This nursing home provides 0.5 hours of nursing care per resident per day. Lastly, we also factored a few quality measures into our nursing grades. This place was relatively weak in two of the major areas we focus on, with below average scores for minimizing its residents' major falls and pressure ulcers. These areas are generally reliable indicators of the quality of nursing care provided.