Understanding the Choose Well Score

Only facilities who have volunteered to be rated will have a Facility Profile Page that displays a Choose Well Score. You can see any volunteer's Choose Well Score by clicking the Choose Well Score tab from the Facility Profile Page.

Choose Well Scores have a range of 1 to 100. Choose Well scores are not higher than 100, and scores below 70 are not published. Volunteer facilities scoring a 69 or below, receive a Participant designation instead of a numerical score. Facilities who are newly licensed, and do not have a public document history are shown as Newly Licensed. Once the newly licensed facility receives a visit by the state that generates a public document, their Choose Well Score will be computed.

Choose Well Score: The higher the Choose Well Score, the better the facility's compliance with state regulations or Health and Safety Code as they relate to the 11 Quality Measures. The Choose Well Score is a computed score.
Quality Measure Star Rating: Each quality measure has a 1 to 5 star rating. The star rating is determined based on the number, as well as severity, of citations. It is important to review the rating details, as a lower star rating may result from multiple minor infractions and not necessarily one that poses an immediate risk to the resident.
Details: Causes for citations range from trivial infractions, to serious deficiencies. Therefore, Choose Well supplements each star rating with the detail of the citation, including a plan of correction the facility has taken to resolve.

The Choose Well Score: All Choose Well Scores have been calculated using the RRS Algorithm Scoring Device, Version 2.1 initiated 1/15/2018. Version 2.1 contains and reflects the Enhancements authorized by the County in 2017. Click here to download the RRS Scoring Device Config document.

More About the Public Records Score

The Choose Well Score uses a facility’s state compliance history with Title 22 regulations to calculate their score. 94 Title 22 regulations and Health and Safety Codes have been assigned to one of the 11 Quality Measures; it has also been assigned a weight. A regulation or code that is more important to a resident's health and safety is assigned a heavier weight than a regulation that is less serious to a resident's wellbeing.

The Choose Well Scoring Device collects the Title 22 regulations and Health and Safety Code citations that the state has issued to the facility. The Choose Well scoring device computes a score based on the number of citations received by the facility, multiplied by the weight assigned to each citation. The total weighted citation score is subtracted from a perfect score of 100. The more citations a facility has received, the lower their public records score.

What do the Quality Measures tell you?

Choose Well's 11 Quality Measures tells you how well the facility is providing care, measured by the number of Title 22 and Health and Safety Code citations a facility has received in the Quality Measure. A facility can earn a maximum of five stars for each Quality Measure. "Type A" citations remove one full star. "Type B" citations remove half a star.

For example, if a facility has five stars () in Quality Measure 1 – Activities and Socialization, that means the facility has not been cited by the state for any deficiencies related to Activities and Socialization.

Another example is that a facility has three and a half stars () in Quality Measure 6 – Resident Rights. That means that the facility has received three Type B citations related to violating resident rights, or one Type B and one Type A citation.

QM #1 Activities and Socialization

This QM looks at how well the facility provides activities and interesting things for residents to do.

QM #2 Emergency Disaster Planning

Is the facility prepared for an emergency, and do they regularly conduct fire drills and evacuation planning? You want to know if the facility is prepared for helping your family member during an earthquake or a fire evacuation.

QM #3 Facility Maintenance & Safety

This QM assesses how the facility is maintained (cleanliness, good repair, good lighting), fire safety equipment and practices, and making sure the facility doesn't take more residents than it is authorized to have. The facility is supposed to provide closet space for residents and access to the telephone.

QM #4 Food & Nutrition

This QM assesses if a facility serves the required three nutritious meals a day, snacks and enough for the residents to drink. The facility also has to have enough food on hand to last a few days. The facility kitchen is supposed to use safe food handling rules. And, if your resident needs a special diet, or needs to have food chopped, cut, or pureed, this QM assesses if the facility does that.

QM #5 Non-Compliance Conference Summary Status

If a facility goes out of compliance with state regulations or Health and Safety Codes, the state inspectors will call a special conference with the assisted living owner to find out why. These special meetings are intended to impress on the provider the importance of taking care of people the right way and reminds facilities they must be compliant with the state regulations or Health and Safety Codes.

QM #6 Resident Rights

Every resident of an assisted living has many Personal Rights. There are also many Resident Rights. This QM looks at how well the facility is protecting and honoring those rights including the resident's right to be treated with kindness and dignity, to have his valuables protected and whether the facility follows the rules when a resident is being relocated.

QM #7 Staffing

This QM looks at how well the facility is staffed during the day and at night and that all staff have the required training. Also, whether the facility administrator has a current certification. Another staffing responsibility of the facility owner is making sure that staff know how to care for a resident's specialized care needs. A facility owner also has to take special care to make sure staff all have the required criminal background clearances before working in the facility.

QM #8 Civil Penalties

This QM is not included in the Choose Well score but you can see how much money the facility has been fined. Violations of some regulations or Health and Safety Codes are more serious than others, and when they are more serious, the facility will be fined.

QM #9 Specialty Care

If your resident needs special types of care for dementia, hospice, and/or if your resident requires total care or is bedridden, you will have special interest in this Quality Measure. Each regulation or Health and Safety Code in this Quality Measure assesses how well the facility follows the rules for these areas specialty care.

QM #10 Basic Resident Care and Supervision

This QM includes the regulations or Health and Safety Codes that state what basic services and care the facility has to give to residents. The basic services include pre-admission appraisals and reappraisals, medical assessments, observation to monitor changes in condition. This category also includes the requirements for a compliant Admissions Agreement, and facility reporting requirements to the state.

QM #11 Medical Needs and Responsiveness

This QM covers regulations or Health and Safety Codes about medication administration, following physician orders, and letting the responsible parties know about falls and injuries. This regulation also tells about how well facilities store and record resident medication, and how they respond to medical emergencies including calling 9-1-1.

For a detailed white paper documenting the Health and Safety Codes and Regulations used to compute the quality measures, click here to download the Data Dictionary as a PDF.