Do you want to bookmark ?

If it ever becomes necessary to find a nursing home, you'll want to know that the home you select provides quality care in a safe environment.

Medicare's nursing home compare online tool is a place to start.

It has useful information that includes:

• Name and location of the home (including a map and directions).
• Whether the home accepts Medicare and/or Medicaid.
• Type of ownership.
• Health and fire safety deficiencies reported in state inspections.
• Amount of time staff spends with a resident each day.
• The percent of residents affected by certain quality measures (for example, the percent of residents with bed sores).
• Ratings for each nursing home and the ability to compare this home with an average of all homes in your state and across the U.S.

IMPORTANT: As you search, be sure to select "View all information about this nursing home" to get a complete picture of its performance.

Once on Medicare's nursing home compare web site, you can begin your search for a nursing home in one of three ways.

1. You can search by geography by clicking on the appropriate state or county.
2. You can search by proximity by typing in a city or zip code and selecting the distance you want to search. (A list of homes in the area you specified will appear on a new page.)
3. Finally, you can search for a specific facility by entering all or some of its name.

Use the information from the Medicare site with:

• recommendations from family and friends,
• information from the state long-term care ombudsman or inspection agency (phone numbers are listed on the site), and, of course,
• observations made during your visits to the homes under consideration, using the AARP nursing home checklist to help guide your visits.