Target Setting

Setting Targets-Achieving Results (STAR)

The Setting Targets—Achieving Results Web sites are free tools that allow nursing homes and home health agencies to set targets for quality measures publicly reported on www.medicare.gov.

Once you 'Create an Account' and register your organization, you can view your quality measure scores, select targets, see and print out trending reports, and track your progress over time.

Nursing Home STAR Site. Nursing homes can use STAR to help continually improve the quality of care they provide to their residents. STAR Web-based tool that provides methods to set improvement targets, compare to national benchmarks, and track performance goals for six quality measures:

• Physical restraints
• High risk pressure ulcers
• Depression
• Chronic care pain
• Short-stay pain
• Short-stay pressure ulcers

Home Health STAR Site. Home health agencies registered to use this Web site can view their publicly reported quality measure scores, select appropriate targets, and track their progress over time. This site allows home health agencies to set targets for the following publicly reported quality measures:

• Acute care hospitalization
• Emergent care
• Discharge to community
• Improvement in ambulation
• Improvement in bathing
• Improvement in dyspnea
• Improvement in management of oral medications
• Improvement in pain interfering with movement
• Improvement in status of surgical wounds
• Improvement in transferring
• Improvement in urinary incontinence