For all of its flaws, Medicare and Medicaid’s Nursing Home Compare five-star rating system gives consumers a head-start when searching for a facility. Now, the Kaiser Family Foundation has taken a closer look at the ratings, and reached some interesting conclusions: In a system that rates facilities from 1-5 stars, about one-third have low 1 or 2 star ratings, while [...]
Infections are all-too-common in nursing homes. And all-too-often facilities treat these conditions with large doses of antibiotics. Now the Obama Administration has announced a major initiative aimed at dramatically reducing the use of these drugs. And the effort has the potential to fundamentally change the way nursing homes operate—and the way residents receive care. Today, antibiotic use is routine in nursing facilities. [...]
This week, The New York Times published an investigative report by Katie Thomas on Medicare’s five-star rating system for nursing homes. Among its findings: Medicare’s Nursing Home Compare tool relies largely on self-reported data by the facilities themselves and is thus unreliable. On one hand, this is a bit odd, since Medicare’s website explicitly describes these very shortcomings. On the [...]
Frail seniors getting supports and services at home are more likely to be hospitalized than those living in nursing homes, even though those in nursing facilities are often sicker than those in the community, according to a new study in the June issue of the journal Health Services Research (behind a paywall). The study finds that seniors receiving care at [...]
Medicare has a huge and growing problem caring for patients after they have been discharged from the hospital. After years of talk, Congress may be about to take a modest but important first step toward cleaning up the mess, and making sure that patients get care that gives them the best chance to live a healthy and active life after a [...]
A new study by AARP, the Commonwealth Fund, and the SCAN Foundation ranks the quality and affordability of nursing homes by state. It finds wide variation in both cost and quality among states but, at least according to some indicators, you get what you pay for: The states with the most affordable facilities are plagued by many poor performers. This [...]
For an important clue into the future of senior care in the U.S., watch Kindred Healthcare, a $5 billion company that operates in 47 states. As recently as 2010, half of Kindred’s business was generated by its skilled nursing facilities. This year, only one-fifth of its revenues will come from its nursing and rehab centers. In a major strategic shift, [...]
Earlier this month, the federal department of Health & Human Services concluded that more than one of every five skilled nursing facility (SNF) patients suffered serious harm from events such as medication errors, falls, or infections in 2011. Half were sent to the hospital as a result of these events. Six percent died. And 60 percent of these adverse events [...]
It sounds like a great idea: Move people out of long-stay nursing facilities and back into their communities, and give them flexibility to spend government dollars on the care they need. Such a change could make care more person-centered and reduce costs. But a federal/state demonstration aimed at achieving that goal has moved very few people. For six years, the federal government and state [...]
More than one out of every five nursing home residents is still being given powerful antipsychotic drugs despite a growing consensus that they are inappropriate and often dangerous. These drugs frequently are given to “calm” dementia patients even though many are approved only for the treatment of diseases such as schizophrenia. Despite a federal initiative, a $2.2 billion legal settlement [...]