KANSAS CITY - Missouri nursing homes have ranked near the bottom nationally in a 2025 report on best nursing homes.
The study, conducted by U.S. News & World Report, evaluated nursing homes in all 50 states using data from the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid services. Missouri ranked 47th.
U.S. News' Senior Health Engineer, Zach Adams, led the study and says issues with staffing shortages, high prescription use of anti-psychotics, and poor patient safety are seen across all below-average facilities nationally.
Adams says staffing levels in Missouri are lower than the national average, especially on weekends, and the state also has high staff turnover rates.
The report aims to provide families and patients with this information before they enter facilities with poor ratings and unresolved complaints.
Adams says he used the same data himself when determining which facility his 95-year-old grandfather should be discharged to following a hospital stay.
According to Adams, he and his family evaluated things such as staffing levels, patient safety, and anti-psychotic use rate. Adams says, "a significant proportion of patients at short-term care and residents at long-term care receive anti-psychotic medication."
U.S. News' study found high-performing nursing homes have a far lower anti-psychotic medication prescription rate. This practice, Adams adds, has been under scrutiny from both the press and Center's for Medicaid and Medicare.
Although Missouri may rank lower when compared nationally, Adams says the report still identifies high-performing facilities in the region. Out of Missouri's 495 nursing homes, there are 21 short-term and long-term facilities who received a five-out-of-five U.S. News rating.