The Pay-Off on Nursing Home Report Cards

For the past decade, policymakers have used public reporting of quality measures as a strategy to improve quality in nursing homes. In theory, public reporting might improve overall quality in two ways: first, if consumers choose nursing homes with better performance, and second, if public reporting encourages nursing homes to improve their performance. Has public reporting had its intended effects? Does improving quality give nursing homes a competitive advantage in the marketplace, thereby improving their bottom line? This Issue Brief summarizes a series of studies that assess the impact of public reporting on nursing home quality and on the financial performance of these facilities.