Suchergebnisse

This study determined whether higher patient volume of skilled nursing facility (SNF) care was associated with a lower hospital transfer rate. Using the nursing home Minimum Data Set and the Online Survey, Certification, and Reporting file, we assembled a national cohort of Medicare SNF postacute care admissions between January and September of 2008. Multivariable analyses based on Cox proportional hazards models found that patients admitted to high-volume SNFs (annual number of admissions in the top tertile group) showed an approximately 15% reduced risk for 30-day rehospitalization and an approximately 25% reduced risk for 90-day rehospitalization, compared with patients admitted to low-volume SNFs (annual number of admissions in the bottom tertile group, or <45). Similar patterns of volume–outcome associations were found for hospital-based and freestanding facilities separately. The inverse volume–outcome association in postacute SNF care may reflect a "practice makes perfect" effect, a "selective referral" effect, or both.

OBJECTIVES: We examined state variations in assisted living (AL) regulatory policies for admission/retention, staffing/training, medication management, and dementia care. Factors associated with domain-specific and overall regulatory stringency were identified. DESIGN: This observational study employed the following data sources: 2019 review of state AL regulations; 2019 national inventory of AL communities; 2014 Government Accountability Office survey of Medicaid agencies; 2016 Genworth Cost of Care Survey; and the 2018 Nursing Home Compare. SETTING AND PARTICIPANTS: Final analyses included 46 states (excluding Alaska, Kentucky, Louisiana and West Virginia) and the District of Columbia. METHODS: For each regulatory domain of interest (dependent variables) we generated policy scores by conducting content analysis of state regulatory databases. States were assigned points for presence of each policy (e.g. staff training). The number of points assigned to each policy was divided by the total possible number of policy-related points, producing state stringency scores (between 0% and 100%) for each policy domain. Independent variables included market-level characteristics (e.g. AL monthly cost), state generosity (e.g. proportion of Medicaid aged using AL services), quality of care (e.g. percent of nursing homes with few deficiencies), and others. Descriptive analyses and multivariable logistic regression models with stepwise selection were employed. RESULTS: We found significant variations in all policy domains across states. No single policy appeared to clearly dominate a state's rank. AL bed supply, monthly AL cost, proportion of Medicaid beneficiaries receiving AL services, and other variables were significantly associated with regulatory stringency of the domains examined. CONCLUSIONS AND IMPLICATIONS: There were substantial variations in regulatory stringency across states. Several market and state generosity measures were identified as potential determinant of stringency, but the direction of these ...

This study determined potential racial and ethnic disparities in risk for all-cause 30-day readmission among traditional Medicare (TM) and Medicare Advantage (MA) beneficiaries initially hospitalized for acute myocardial infarction, congestive heart failure, or pneumonia. Our analyses of New York State hospital administrative data between 2009 and 2012 found that overall 30-day readmission rate declined from 22.0% in 2009 to 20.7% in 2012 for TM beneficiaries, and from 20.2% in 2009 to 17.9% in 2012 for MA beneficiaries. However, persistent racial disparities were found in propensity-score–based analyses among TM beneficiaries (e.g., in 2012, adjusted odds ratio [OR] = 1.11, 95% confidence interval [CI] = 1.01-1.23, p = .029), though not among MA beneficiaries (in 2012, adjusted OR = 1.05, 95% CI = 0.92-1.19, p = .476). We did not find evidence of persistent ethnic disparity for TM (in 2012, adjusted OR = 1.08, 95% CI = 0.93-1.25, p = .303) or MA (in 2012, adjusted OR = 0.99, 95% CI = 0.88-1.11, p = .837) beneficiaries. We conclude that enrollment in MA seemed to be associated with significantly reduced readmission rate and potentially reduced racial disparity.

Since 2005 Massachusetts has publicly reported results from biennial surveys of satisfaction with nursing homes, completed by responsible parties for residents, to promote consumer-centered care. Our analysis of the results from 2005, 2007, and 2009 revealed generally high satisfaction with care, which remained stable over time. On a scale of 1 to 5 (from very dissatisfied to very satisfied), average satisfaction with overall care was 4.22-4.31, and satisfaction that overall residents' needs were met was 4.09-4.16. Around 90percent of respondents would recommend the facility. Satisfaction ratings varied considerably across facilities, with higher scores associated with higher nursing staffing levels, fewer deficiency citations, and nonprofit or government ownership. Scores for six domains of care were, in general, closely associated with satisfaction scores. However, family members seemed less satisfied with the physical and social activities available to residents and with the food and meals served than with such attributes as the physical environment. Our findings suggest that including the consumer's perspective would improve the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services' current nursing home reporting efforts. However, refinements may be necessary to detect the impact of consumer reporting on the quality of patient-centered care.

Since 2005 Massachusetts has publicly reported results from biennial surveys of satisfaction with nursing homes, completed by responsible parties for residents, to promote consumer-centered care. Our analysis of the results from 2005, 2007, and 2009 revealed generally high satisfaction with care, which remained stable over time. On a scale of 1 to 5 (from very dissatisfied to very satisfied), average satisfaction with overall care was 4.22–4.31 and satisfaction that overall residents' needs were met was 4.09–4.16; 89.9–90.1 percent of respondents would recommend the facility. Satisfaction ratings varied considerably across facilities, with higher scores associated with higher nursing staffing levels, fewer deficiency citations, and nonprofit or government ownership. Scores for six domains of care were, in general, closely associated with satisfaction scores. However, family members seemed less satisfied with the physical and social activities available to residents and with the food and meals served than with such attributes as the physical environment. Our findings suggest that including the consumer's perspective would improve the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services' current nursing home reporting efforts, but that refinements may be necessary to detect the impact of consumer reporting on the quality of patient-centered care.

Abstract Background There is growing concern certain not-for-profit hospitals are not providing enough uncompensated care to justify their tax exempt status. Our objective was to compare the amount of uncompensated care provided by not-for-profit (NFP), for-profit (FP) and government owned hospitals. Methods We used 2005 state inpatient data (SID) for 10 states to identify patients hospitalized for three common conditions: acute myocardial infarction (AMI), coronary artery bypass grafting (CABG), or childbirth. Uncompensated care was measured as the proportion of each hospital's total admissions for each condition that were classified as being uninsured. Hospitals were categorized as NFP, FP, or government owned based upon data obtained from the American Hospital Association. We used bivariate methods to compare the proportion of uninsured patients admitted to NFP, FP and government hospitals for each diagnosis. We then used generalized linear mixed models to compare the percentage of uninsured in each category of hospital after adjusting for the socioeconomic status of the markets each hospital served. Results Our cohort consisted of 188,117 patients (1,054 hospitals) hospitalized for AMI, 82,261 patients (245 hospitals) for CABG, and 1,091,220 patients for childbirth (793 hospitals). The percentage of admissions classified as uninsured was lower in NFP hospitals than in FP or government hospitals for AMI (4.6% NFP; 6.0% FP; 9.5% government; P < .001), CABG (2.6% NFP; 3.3% FP; 7.0% government; P < .001), and childbirth (3.1% NFP; 4.2% FP; 11.8% government; P < .001). In adjusted analyses, the mean percentage of AMI patients classified as uninsured was similar in NFP and FP hospitals (4.4% vs. 4.3%; P = 0.71), and higher for government hospitals (6.0%; P < .001 for NFP vs. government). Likewise, results demonstrated similar proportions of uninsured patients in NFP and FP hospitals and higher levels of uninsured in government hospitals for both CABG and childbirth. Conclusions For the three conditions studied NFP and FP hospitals appear to provide a similar amount of uncompensated care while government hospitals provide significantly more. Concerns about the amount of uncompensated care provided by NFP hospitals appear warranted.