Nursing homes are now required to disclose more ownership and management information to the public, according to a final CMS rule.
The rule includes definitions of private equity and real estate investment trusts, and it requires nursing homes enrolled in Medicare or Medicaid to disclose additional information about their owners, operators and management, as well as entities that exercise financial control over the facility, according to a Nov. 15 CMS news release.
The rule also requires information about entities that lease or sublease property to nursing homes to disclose ownership.
"Nursing homes frequently use other companies to provide major services or supports within a facility, but families currently have no way of knowing which different companies or firms provide care to their loved ones and how they might be connected to the owners of a nursing home. That will change under this rule," the release said.
Between 2016 and 2021, 3,000 nursing homes experienced a change in ownership, and facilities with lower star-quality ratings are sold more often than those with higher ratings. The additional ownership information, which will be made public, will allow CMS and others to scrutinize how ownership types correlate with care outcomes, the release said.