Background

High-quality care for long-term nursing home residents should include discussions and follow-up on patients' end-of-life care wishes. Yet, recent changes to the Minimum Data Set data collection exclude this information from routine assessment of patients mandated by the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, making the provision of high-quality end-of-life care less likely. We examined the stability of cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) and do-not-resuscitate (DNR) orders to offer guidance to policy and care practice developments.

Methods

We examined changes in DNR status of a national long-term care nursing home cohort, following them for 5 years after admission. A competing risk model was estimated to identify covariates predicting changes from CPR to DNR status and vice versa.

Results

About half the cohort chose DNR at admission and did not change its status. Of those who entered with CPR status, 40% changed to DNR. The most important factors influencing change were hospitalizations and nursing home transfers, followed by race and ethnicity with black race (relative to white) in particular having the largest effect on change. Other individual and nursing home characteristics influenced the likelihood of changing from CPR to DNR as well.

Conclusions

Long-term nursing home patients who enter with full-code CPR have a high probability of changing their status to DNR during their stay. High-quality care should offer them the opportunity to revisit their choice periodically, documenting changes in end-of-life choices when they occur, thus ensuring that care will match patients' wishes. As the Minimum Data Set plays a prominent role in patients' care, Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services should consider reinstating information about advance directive in it.

Objectives

To examine the incidence of, variations in, and costs of potentially avoidable hospitalizations (PAHs) of nursing home (NH) residents at the end of life and to identify the association between NH characteristics and a facility-level quality measure (QM) for PAH.

Design

Retrospective.

Setting

Hospitalizations originating from NHs.

Participants

Long-term care NH residents who died in 2007.

Measurements

A risk-adjusted QM was constructed for PAH. A Poisson regression model was used to predict the count of PAH given residents' risk factors. For each facility, the QM was defined as the difference between the observed facility-specific rate (per 1,000 person-years) of PAH (O) and the expected risk-adjusted rate (E). A logistic regression model with state fixed-effects was then fit to examine the association between facility characteristics and the likelihood of having higher-than-expected rates of PAH (O-E > 0). QM values greater than 0 indicate worse-than-average quality.

Results

Almost 50% of hospital admissions for NH residents in their last year of life were for potentially avoidable conditions, costing Medicare $1 billion. Five conditions were responsible for more than 80% of PAHs. PAH QM across facilities showed significant variation (mean 12.0 ± 142.3 per 1,000 person-years, range -399.48 to 398.09 per 1,000 person-years). Chain and hospital-based facilities were more likely to exhibit better performance (O-E < 0). Facilities with higher nursing staffing were more likely to have better performance, as were facilities with higher skilled staff ratio, those with nurse practitioners or physician assistants, and those with on-site X-ray services.

Conclusion

Variations in facility-level PAHs suggest that a potential for reducing hospital admissions for these conditions may exist. Presence of modifiable facility characteristics associated with PAH performance could help us formulate interventions and policies for reducing PAHs at the end of life.

Recent increases in state Medicaid payments to nursing homes have the potential to reduce disparities in nurse staffing between facilities with high and low concentrations of racial/ethnic minority residents. Analyses of nursing home and state policy survey data for the period 2001-11 suggest that registered nurse and licensed practical nurse staffing levels increased slightly during this period, regardless of racial/ethnic minority resident concentration. Adjusted disparities in registered nurse hours per resident day between nursing homes with high and low concentrations of minority residents persisted, although they were reduced. Certified nursing assistant hours per patient day increased in nursing homes with low concentrations of minorities but decreased in homes with high concentrations, creating a new disparity. Overall, increases in state Medicaid payment rates to nursing homes were associated with improvements in staffing and reduced staffing disparities across facilities, but the adoption of case-mix payments had the opposite effect. Further reforms in health care delivery and payment are needed to address persistent disparities in care between nursing homes serving higher proportions of minority residents and those serving lower proportions, and to prevent unintended exacerbations of such disparities.

Background/objective

Nursing homes (NHs) are an important setting for the provision of palliative and end-of-life (EOL) care. Excessive reliance on hospitalizations at EOL and infrequent enrollment in hospice are key quality concerns in this setting. We examined the association between communication-among NH providers and between providers and residents/family members-and two EOL quality measures (QMs): in-hospital deaths and hospice use.

Design and methods

We developed two measures of communication by using a survey tool implemented in a random sample of U.S. NHs in 2011-12. Using secondary data (Minimum Data Set, Medicare, and hospice claims), we developed two risk-adjusted quality metrics for in-hospital death and hospice use. In the 1201 NHs, which completed the survey, we identified 54,526 residents, age 65+, who died in 2011. Psychometric assessment of the two communication measures included principal factor and internal consistency reliability analyses. Random-effect logistic and weighted least-square regression models were estimated to develop facility-level risk-adjusted QMs, and to assess the effect of communication measures on the quality metrics.

Results

Better communication with residents/family members was statistically significantly (p = 0.015) associated with fewer in-hospital deaths. However, better communication among providers was significantly (p = 0.006) associated with lower use of hospice.

Conclusions

Investing in NHs to improve communication between providers and residents/family may lead to fewer in-hospital deaths. Improved communication between providers appears to reduce, rather than increase, NH-to-hospice referrals. The actual impact of improved provider communication on residents' EOL care quality needs to be better understood.

This study aimed to examine racial and ethnic differences in significant depressive symptoms among long-term nursing home residents. We analyzed the 2014 national Minimum Data Set linked to a nursing home file and estimated multivariable logistic regressions to determine the associations of race and ethnicities with significant depressive symptoms (score ≥ 10 on the 9-item Patient Health Questionnaire [PHQ-9] scale) and whether associations were explained by resident and nursing home covariates. Stratified analyses further determined independent associations in subgroups of residents. We found that the prevalence rate of PHQ-9 scores ≥ 10 was 8.8% among non-Hispanic White residents (n = 653,031) and 7.4%, 6.9%, and 6.6% among Black (n = 97,629), Hispanic (n = 39,752), and Asian (n = 16,636) residents, respectively. The reduced likelihoods of significant depressive symptoms for minority residents compared to non-Hispanic Whites persisted after sequential adjustments for resident and nursing home covariates, as well as in stratified analyses. The persistently lower rate of significant depressive symptoms among racial and ethnic minority residents suggests that training of nursing home caregivers for culturally sensitive depression screening is needed for improved symptom recognition among minority residents.

Despite the increased use of nursing homes by minority residents, nursing home care remains highly segregated. Compared to whites, racial/ethnic minorities tend to be cared for in facilities with limited clinical and financial resources, low nurse staffing levels, and a relatively high number of care deficiency citations. We assessed the trends from 2006 to 2011 in those citations and in disparities across facilities with four different concentrations of racial/ethnic minority residents. We found that the number of health care-related deficiencies and the percentage of facilities with serious deficiencies decreased over time for all four facility groups. From 2006 to 2011 the average annual number of health care-related deficiencies declined from 7.4 to 6.8 for facilities with low minority concentrations (<5 percent) and from 10.6 to 9.4 for facilities with high minority concentrations (≥35 percent). In multivariable analyses, across-site disparities in health care-related deficiencies and in life-safety deficiencies narrowed over time. We also found that increasing the Medicaid payment rate might help improve both overall quality and disparities, but state case-mix payment approaches might worsen both. These results suggest the need to reevaluate quality improvement and cost containment efforts to better foster the quality and equity of nursing home care.

Background/objectives

Studies show that in nursing homes (NHs), the prevalence of moderate-to-severe obesity has doubled in the last decade and continues to increase. Obese residents are often complex and costly, and this increase in prevalence has come at a time when NHs struggle to decrease hospitalizations, particularly those that are potentially avoidable. This study examined the association between obesity and hospitalizations.

Design

We linked 2011-2014 national data using Medicare NH assessments, hospital claims, and the NH Compare.

Setting and participants

Individuals aged ≥65 years, newly admitted to NHs, who became long-term residents between July 1, 2011 and March 26, 2014. The analytical sample included 490,086 residents.

Methods

NH-originating hospitalization was the outcome; a categorical variable defined as no hospitalization, potentially avoidable hospitalization (PAH), and other hospitalization (non-PAH). The main independent variable was body mass index (BMI) defined as normal weight (30 >BMI ≥18.5 kg/m²), mildly obese (35 >BMI ≥30 kg/m²), or moderately-to-severely obese (BMI ≥35 kg/m²). Covariates included individual and NH characteristics. Multinomial models with NH random effects and state dummies were estimated.

Results

After adjusting for individual level covariates, the risk of non-PAH for the mildly and moderate/severely obese was not different from normal weight residents. But the risk of PAH remained significantly higher for the moderate/severely obese (relative risk ratio = 1.055; 95% confidence interval 1.018, 1.094). Several NH-level factors also influenced hospitalization risk.

Conclusions and implications

Obese residents are more likely to experience PAH but not non-PAH. Efforts to improve care for these residents may need to broadly consider the ability of NHs to commit additional resources to fully integrate care for this growing segment of the population.

Background

Racial disparities in access to care and access to high-quality care have been persistent over many decades. They have been documented in all areas of health care, including ambulatory care. Policy initiatives have been implemented to address disparities and close the gaps in care that minorities face. Less is known about the effectiveness of these polices.

Objectives

To evaluate whether disparities in quality of ambulatory care have abated during the decade of 2000 by answering 2 questions: (1) were there differences in ambulatory care sensitive hospital admissions rates by race?; (2) have these differences been declining over time?

Research design

Multivariable linear regressions with fixed county effects and robust SEs of longitudinal panel data.

Subjects

A total of 4,032,322 discharges in 172 counties in 6 states during 2003-2009.

Measures

Prevention Quality Indicators (PQIs) developed by the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality, by county, and race calculated from the Healthcare Cost and Utilization Project dataset.

Results

In 2003 the overall PQI admission rates were higher for African Americans (around 16.5/1000) than for whites (around 15/1000). By 2009, the overall and the chronic PQI admission rates declined significantly (P<0.01) for whites. They either did not decline or increased for African Americans. Acute PQI rates declined significantly for whites and remained stable for African Americans.

Conclusions

Policies addressing persisting racial disparities in quality of ambulatory care for African Americans should focus on the chronic PQIs. In addition, efforts should be made to improve data quality for race and ethnicity information on hospital discharge data to enable informed policy evaluation and planning.

Objectives

To explore profiles of obese residents who receive post-acute care in nursing homes (NHs) and to assess the relationship between obesity and hospital readmissions and how it is modified by individual comorbidities, age, and type of index hospitalizations.

Design

Retrospective cohort study.

Setting and participants

Medicare fee-for-service beneficiaries who were newly admitted to free-standing US NHs after an acute inpatient episode between 2011 and 2014 (N = 2,323,019).

Measures

The Minimum Data Set 3.0 were linked with Medicare data. The outcome variable was 30-day hospital readmission from an NH. Residents were categorized into 3 groups based on their body mass index (BMI): nonobese, mildly obese, moderate-to-severely obese. We tested the relationship between obesity and 30-day readmissions by fixed-effects logit models and stratified analyses by the type of index hospitalization and residents' age.

Results

Forty percent of the identified residents were admitted after a surgical episode, and the rest were admitted after a medical episode. The overall relationship between obesity and readmissions suggested that obesity was associated with higher risks of readmission among the oldest old (≥85 years) residents but with lower risks of readmission among the youngest group (65-74 years). After accounting for individual co-covariates, the association between obesity and readmissions among the oldest old residents became weaker; the adjusted odds ratio was 1.061 (P = .049) and 1.004 (P = .829) for moderate-to-severely obese patients with surgical and medical index hospitalizations, respectively. The protective effect of obesity among younger residents reduced after adjusting for covariates.

Conclusions/relevance

The relationship between obesity and hospital readmission among post-acute residents could be affected by comorbidities, age, and the type of index hospitalization. Further studies are also warranted to understand how to effectively measure NH quality outcomes, including hospital readmissions, so that policies targeting at quality improvement can successfully achieve their goals without unintended consequences.

Objectives

Hospice enrollment is known to reduce risk of hospitalizations for nursing home residents who use it. We examined whether residing in facilities with a higher hospice penetration: (1) reduces hospitalization risk for nonhospice residents; and (2) decreases hospice-enrolled residents' hospitalization risk relative to hospice-enrolled residents in facilities with a lower hospice penetration.

Methods

Medicare Beneficiary File, Inpatient and Hospice Claims, Minimum Data Set Version 2.0, Provider of Services File, and Area Resource File. Retrospective analysis of long-stay nursing home residents who died during 2005-2007. Overall, 505,851 nonhospice (67.66%) and 241,790 hospice-enrolled (32.34%) residents in 14,030 facilities nationwide were included. We fit models predicting the probability of hospitalization conditional on hospice penetration and resident and facility characteristics. We used instrumental variable method to address the potential endogeneity between hospice penetration and hospitalization. Distance between each nursing home and the closest hospice was the instrumental variable.

Results

In the last 30 days of life, 37.63% of nonhospice and 23.18% of hospice residents were hospitalized. Every 10% increase in hospice penetration leads to a reduction in hospitalization risk of 5.1% for nonhospice residents and 4.8% for hospice-enrolled residents.

Conclusions

Higher facility-level hospice penetration reduces hospitalization risk for both nonhospice and hospice-enrolled residents. The findings shed light on nursing home end-of-life care delivery, collaboration among providers, and cost benefit analysis of hospice care.