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Background: State survey agencies collect and investigate consumer complaints for care in nursing homes and other health care settings. Complaint investigations play a key role in quality assurance, because they can respond to concerns of consumers and families.Objective: This study uses 5 years of nursing home complaints data from Massachusetts (1998-2002) to investigate whether complaints might be used to assess nursing home quality of care.Research Design: The investigator matches facility-level complaints data with On-Line Survey Certification and Reporting (OSCAR) data and Minimum Data Set Quality Indicator (MDS QI) data to evaluate the association between consumer complaints, facility and resident characteristics, and other nursing home quality measures.Results: Consumer complaints varied across facility characteristics in ways consistent with the nursing home quality literature. Complaints were consistently and significantly associated with survey deficiencies, the presence of a serious survey deficiency, and nurse aide staffing. Complaints were not significantly associated with nurse staffing, and associations with 6 MDS QIs were mixed. The number of complaints was significantly predictive of survey deficiencies identified at the subsequent inspection.Conclusion: Nursing home consumer complaints provide a supplemental tool with which to differentiate nursing homes on quality. Despite limitations, complaints data have potential strengths when used in combination with other quality measures. The potential of using consumer complaints to assess nursing home quality of care should be evaluated in states beyond Massachusetts. Evaluating consumer complaints also might be a productive area of inquiry for other health care settings such as hospitals and home health agencies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Since the Nursing Home Reform Act of 1987, regular oversight of United States nursing home activities has been a key strategy to ensure minimum levels of care quality for residents. Oversight activities have included "standard" survey visits - that is, annual unannounced visits by state survey agencies (SSAs) that directly observe resident care and interview nursing home residents and staff. This study provides an overview of these activities, focusing on oversight delays arising from policy changes brought on by the pandemic. Data from the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Service's (CMS) Quality, Certification and Oversight Reports, Survey Summary Files, and Provider Information Files were used to measure delays in survey completion across SSAs. Study findings reveal delays in inspection activities, which have resulted in a large backlog of uncompleted standard surveys far exceeding regulatory requirements. These delays exist across nursing homes with high and low levels of quality. As SSAs work through the backlog of surveys, they may prioritize the completion of surveys based on prior performance. This precedent may be expanded as CMS explores opportunities to produce processes that target the completion of surveys in the poorest performing nursing homes.

Nursing home ownership has become increasingly complicated, partly because of the growth of facilities owned by institutional investors such as private equity (PE) firms and real estate investment trusts (REITs). Although the ownership transparency and accountability of nursing homes have historically been poor, the Biden administration's nursing home reform plans released in 2022 included a series of data releases on ownership. However, our evaluation of the newly released data identified several gaps: One-third of PE and fewer than one-fifth of REIT investments identified in the proprietary Irving Levin Associates and S&P Capital IQ investment data were present in Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) publicly available ownership data. Similarly, we obtained different results when searching for the ten top common owners of nursing homes using CMS data and facility survey reports of chain ownership. Finally, ownership percentages were missing in the CMS data for 82.40 percent of owners in the top ten chains and 55.21 percent of owners across all US facilities. Although the new data represent an important step forward, we highlight additional steps to ensure that the data are timely, accurate, and responsive. Transparent ownership data are fundamental to understanding the adequacy of public payments to provide patient care, enable policy makers to make timely decisions, and evaluate nursing home quality.

Importance: Private equity firms and publicly traded companies have been acquiring US hospice agencies; an estimated 16% of US hospice agencies are owned by private equity (PE) firms or publicly traded companies (PTC)., Objective: To examine the association of PE and PTC acquisitions of hospices with Medicare patients' site of care and clinical diagnoses., Design, Setting, and Participants: This cohort study of US hospice agencies used a novel national database of acquisitions merged with the Medicare Post-Acute Care and Hospice Public Use File for 2013 to 2020. Changes in sites of care and patient characteristics for hospice agencies acquired by PE or PTCs were compared with changes for patients in nonacquired for-profit hospice agencies., Exposure: Private equity and publicly traded company acquisitions., Main Outcomes and Measures: This study used a difference-in-differences approach within an event-study framework to examine the association of PE and PTC acquisitions of hospice agencies with changes in patient diagnoses and sites of care. Dependent variables were annual hospice-level measures of the Hierarchical Condition Category (HCC) score and proportion of patients diagnosed with cancer or dementia. Sites of care included the proportion of patients receiving hospice care in their personal home, nursing home, or assisted living facility., Results: A total of 158 hospice agencies acquired by PEs, 250 acquired by PTCs, and 1559 other for-profit hospice agencies were included. Preacquisition, hospice agencies that would later be acquired by PE or PTC served a mean (IQR) 30.1% (12.0%-44.0%) and 29.4% (13.0%-43.0%) of their patients in nursing homes respectively, a greater proportion compared with the 27.1% (8.0%-43.8%) served by for-profit hospices that were never acquired. Agencies acquired by PE between 2014 and 2019 saw a significant relative increase of 5.98% in dementia patients (1.38 percentage points; 95% CI, 0.35-2.40 percentage points; P = .008). In PTC-owned hospices, the proportion of patients receiving care at home increased by 5.26% (2.98 percentage points; 95% CI, 1.46-4.51 percentage points; P < .001), the proportion of dementia patients rose by 13.49% (3.11 percentage points; 95% CI, 2.14-4.09 percentage points; P < .001), and the HCC score decreased by 1.37% (-3.19 percentage points; 95% CI, -5.92 to -0.47 percentage points; P = .02)., Conclusions and Relevance: These findings suggest that PE and PTCs select patients and sites of care to maximize profits.

Importance: Better evidence is needed on whether Medicare Advantage (MA) plans can control the use of postacute care services while achieving excellent outcomes., Objective: To compare self-reported use of postacute care services and outcomes among traditional Medicare (TM) beneficiaries and MA enrollees., Design, Setting, and Participants: This cohort study used data from the National Health and Aging Trends Study (NHATS) with linked Medicare enrollment data from 2015 to 2017. Participants were community-dwelling MA or TM beneficiaries 70 years and older; those with dual Medicare and Medicaid eligibility were also identified. Analyses were conducted from May 2022 to February 2023 and were weighted to account for the complex survey design., Exposures: Enrollment in MA and dual eligibility for Medicare and Medicaid., Main Outcomes and Measures: Postacute care service use including site of use, duration, primary indication, and whether participants met their goals or experienced improved functional status during or after services., Results: Included in the analysis were 2357 Medicare beneficiaries who used postacute care. Of these beneficiaries, 815 (32.6%; 62.0% were females [weighted percentages]) had MA and 1542 (67.4%; 59.5% were females [weighted percentages]) had TM. Enrollees in MA reported using postacute care services across all NHATS survey rounds: between 16.2% (95% CI, 14.3%-18.4%) and 17.7% (95% CI, 15.4%-20.4%) of MA enrollees reported using postacute care services each round, vs 22.4% (95% CI, 20.9%-24.1%) to 24.1% (95% CI, 21.8%-26.6%) of TM beneficiaries (P for all rounds <.002). Enrollees in MA reported less functional improvement during postacute care use (63.1% [95% CI, 59.2%-66.8%] vs 71.7% [95% CI, 68.9%-74.3%], P < .001). Among beneficiaries who ended postacute service use, fewer MA enrollees than TM enrollees reported that they met their goals (70.5% [95% CI, 65.1%-75.3%] vs 76.2% [95% CI, 73.1%-79.1%]; P = .053) or had improved functional status (43.9% [95% CI, 38.9%-49.1%] vs 46.0% [95% CI, 42.5%-49.5%]; P = .42), but differences were not statistically significant. Differences in postacute care use and functional improvement were not statistically significant between MA and TM enrollees with dual eligibility., Conclusions and Relevance: In this cohort study of Medicare beneficiaries, we found that MA enrollees overall used less postacute care services than their TM counterparts. Among users of postacute care services, MA enrollees reported less favorable outcomes compared with TM enrollees. These findings highlight the importance of assessing patient-reported outcomes, especially as MA and other payment models seek to reduce inefficient use of postacute care services.

In 2021 real estate investment trusts (REITs) held investments in 1,806 US nursing homes. REITs are for-profit public or private corporations that invest in income-producing properties. We created a novel database of REIT investments in US nursing homes, merged it with Medicare cost report data (2013-19), and used a difference-in-differences approach within an event study framework to compare staffing before and after a nursing home received REIT investment with staffing in for-profit nursing homes that did not receive REIT investment. REIT investment was associated with average relative staffing increases of 2.15 percent and 1.55 percent for licensed practical nurses (LPNs) and certified nursing assistants (CNAs), respectively. During the postinvestment period, registered nurse (RN) staffing was unchanged, but event study results showed a 6.25 percent decrease in years 2 and 3 after REIT investment. After the three largest REIT deals were excluded, REIT investments were associated with an overall 6.25 percent relative decrease in RN staffing and no changes in LPN and CNA staffing. Larger deals resulted in increases in LPN and CNA staffing, with no changes in RN staffing; smaller deals appeared to replace more expensive and skilled RN staffing with less expensive and skilled staff.

Dual-eligible beneficiaries with Medicare and Medicaid coverage generally have greater utilization and spending levels than Medicare-only beneficiaries on postacute services, raising questions about how strategies to curb postacute spending will affect dual-eligible beneficiaries. We compared trends in postacute spending and use related to inpatient episodes at a population and episode level for dual-eligible and Medicare-only beneficiaries over the years 2009-2017. Although dual-eligible beneficiaries had consistently higher inpatient and postacute service use and spending than Medicare-only populations, both populations experienced similar declines in inpatient and postacute measures over time. Conditional on having an inpatient stay, most types of postacute service use increased regardless of dual-eligible status. These consistent patterns in episode-related postacute spending for Medicare-only and dual-eligible beneficiaries-decreased episode-related spending and use on a per beneficiary basis and increased use and spending on a per episode basis-suggest that changing patterns of care affect both populations.

To coordinate Medicare and Medicaid benefits, multiple states are creating opportunities for dual-eligible beneficiaries to join Medicare Advantage Dual-Eligible Special Needs Plans (D-SNPs) and Medicaid plans operated by the same insurer. Tennessee implemented this approach by requiring insurers who offered Medicaid plans to also offer a D-SNP by 2015. Tennessee's aligned D-SNP participation increased from 7% to 24% of dual-eligible beneficiaries aged 65 years and above between 2011 and 2017. Within a county, a 10-percentage-point increase in aligned D-SNP participation was associated with 0.3 fewer inpatient admissions ( p = .048), 13.9 fewer prescription drugs per month ( p = .048), and 0.3 fewer nursing home users ( p = .06) per 100 dual-eligible beneficiaries aged 65 years and older. Increased aligned plan participation was associated with 0.2 more inpatient admissions ( p = .004) per 100 dual-eligible beneficiaries younger than 65 years. For some dual-eligible beneficiaries, increasing Medicare and Medicaid managed plan alignment has the potential to promote more efficient service use.

Many individuals receiving post-acute and long-term care services in nursing homes have unmet palliative and end-of-life care needs. Hospice has been the predominant approach to meeting these needs, although hospice services generally are available only to long-term care residents with a limited prognosis who choose to forego disease-modifying or curative therapies. Two additional approaches to meeting these needs are the provision of palliative care consultation through community- or hospital-based programs and facility-based palliative care services. However, access to this specialized care is limited, services are not clearly defined, and the empirical evidence of these approaches' effectiveness is inadequate. In this article, we review the existing evidence and challenges with each of these 3 approaches. We then describe a model for effective delivery of palliative and end-of-life care in nursing homes, one in which palliative and end-of-life care are seen as integral to high-quality nursing home care. To achieve this vision, we make 4 recommendations: (1) promote internal palliative and end-of-life care capacity through comprehensive training and support; (2) ensure that state and federal payment policies and regulations do not create barriers to delivering high-quality, person-centered palliative and end-of-life care; (3) align nursing home quality measures to include palliative and end-of-life care-sensitive indicators; and (4) support access to and integration of external palliative care services. These recommendations will require changes in the organization, delivery, and reimbursement of care. All nursing homes should provide high-quality palliative and end-of-life care, and this article describes some key strategies to make this goal a reality., (Copyright © 2021 AMDA – The Society for Post-Acute and Long-Term Care Medicine. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.)

Background: Chronic ventilator use in Tennessee nursing homes surged following 2010 increases in respiratory care payment rates. Tennessee's Medicaid program implemented multiple policies between 2014 and 2017 to promote ventilator liberation in 11 nursing homes, including quality reporting, on-site monitoring, and pay-for-performance incentives., Methods: Using repeated cross-sectional analysis of Medicare and Medicaid nursing home claims (2011-2017), hospital discharge records (2010-2017), and nursing home quality reports (2015-2017), we examined how service use changed as Tennessee implemented policies designed to promote ventilator liberation in nursing homes. We measured the annual number of nursing home patients with ventilator-related service use; discharge destination of ventilated inpatients and percent of nursing home patients liberated from ventilators., Results: Between 2011 and 2014, the number of Medicare SNF and Medicaid nursing home patients with ventilator use increased more than sixfold. Among inpatients with prolonged mechanical ventilation, discharges to home decreased as discharges to nursing homes increased. As Tennessee implemented policy changes, ventilator-related service use moderately declined in nursing homes from a peak of 198 ventilated Medicare SNF patients in 2014 to 125 in 2017 and from 182 Medicaid patients with chronic ventilator use in 2014 to 145 patients in 2017. Nursing home weaning rates peaked at 49%-52% in 2015 and 2016, but declined to 26% by late 2017. Median number of days from admission to wean declined from 81 to 37 days., Conclusions: This value-based approach demonstrates the importance of designing payment models that target key patient outcomes like ventilator liberation., (© 2021 The American Geriatrics Society.)

The number of people living with dementia (PLWD) is expected to grow considerably in the coming years. PLWD often have substantial medical and supportive service needs and face fragmentation of services across payers and across health and social service systems; recently, efforts have been made to achieve greater integration of care and financing. This article considers issues related to integrating long-term services and supports (LTSS), medical care, and financing for PLWD; reviews the policy context and key clinical and delivery system challenges to these efforts; and describes key lessons regarding integration learned from examples in the field. Recommendations are provided and include the following: (1) assess carefully whether integration of medical and LTSS is required to achieve the intended outcomes of an intervention or program targeted at PLWD; if integration is needed, select carefully the types of medical and LTSS to integrate and the mode of integration; (2) use measures that evaluate quality across LTSS settings in which PLWD receive care; (3) assess whether and how eligibility and payment policies pose barriers to PLWD from receiving services they need, and evaluate ways in which policies might be reformed to meet beneficiaries' needs; and (4) conduct research examining the potential of value-based payment efforts to improve the quality and efficiency of care received by PLWD, including their potential impact on out-of-pocket expenses and caregiving burden for PLWD and their families., (Copyright © 2021. Published by Elsevier Inc.)

Background/objectives: Regulatory oversight has been a central strategy to assure nursing home quality of care for decades. In response to COVID-19, traditional elements of oversight that relate to resident care have been curtailed in favor of implementing limited infection control surveys and targeted complaint investigations. We seek to describe the state of nursing home oversight during the pandemic to facilitate a discussion of whether and how these activities should be altered going forward., Design and Setting: In a retrospective study, we describe national oversight activities in January-June 2020 and compare these activities to the same time period from 2019. We also examine state-level oversight activities during the peak months of the pandemic., Participants: United States nursing homes., Data: Publicly available Quality, Certification, and Oversight Reports (QCOR) data from the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS)., Measurements: Number of standard, complaint, and onsite infection surveys, number of deficiencies from standard and complaint surveys, number of citations by deficiency tag, and number and amount of civil monetary penalties., Results: The number of standard and complaint surveys declined considerably in the second quarter of 2020 relative to the same time frame in 2019. Deficiency citations generally decreased to near zero by April 2020 with the exception of infection prevention and control deficiencies and citations for failure to report COVID-19 data to the national health safety network. Related enforcement actions were down considerably in 2020, relative to 2019., Conclusion: In the months since COVID-19 first impacted nursing homes, regulatory oversight efforts have fallen off considerably. While CMS implemented universal infection control surveys and targeted complaint investigations, other routine aspects of oversight dropped in light of justifiable limits on nursing home entry. Going forward, we must develop policies that allow regulators to balance the demands of the pandemic while fulfilling their responsibilities effectively., (© 2021 The American Geriatrics Society.)

Objective: To examine the growth and evolution of the home health agency (HHA) market and to compare quality performance across HHA ownership categories., Data Source: Agency characteristics were extracted from Medicare cost reports and Provider of Services file. Quality of care and patient characteristics were extracted from Quality of Patient Care Star Ratings and HHA Public Use File., Study Design: Agency- and state-level analyses were conducted to describe HHA market trends. Patient characteristics and quality measures were compared across ownership categories of interest., Data Collection/extraction Methods: All Medicare-certified HHAs in operation, 2005-2018., Principal Findings: Over the study period, the HHA sector grew substantially, increasing from 7899 to 10 818 agencies, and chain-owned HHAs doubled in number from 903 (11.4% of all agencies) to 1841 (17.0%). In 2018, across agency types, for-profit nonchain agencies were the largest category both in the number of agencies (67.8%) and the number of Medicare enrollees served (40.7%). Additionally, for-profit nonchain agencies grew most in total number, from 4293 (54.3%) to 7337 (67.8%), while for-profit chain agencies grew most in the number of Medicare enrollees served, from 439 998 (12.9%) to 1 082 385 (28.3%). Regarding patient composition, for-profit nonchain agencies served the highest proportion of dual eligible beneficiaries (42.2%) and African-Americans (27.9%) among all agency types. Regarding quality performance, a higher star rating is significantly (P < .01) associated with chain agency status. Moreover, chain HHAs performed better on self-reported process measures, and risk-adjusted self-reported outcome measures; however, they performed worse on risk-adjusted claims-based outcome measures. These results were similar across for-profit and nonprofit chain agencies., Conclusion: Chains play a growing role in the home health sector. Substantial differences in geographic distribution, patient composition, and quality performance were observed between chain- and nonchain HHAs. Examining the growth and performance of multi-agency chains can help inform quality reporting and monitoring, assess payment adequacy, and facilitate greater transparency and accountability within the HHA marketplace., (© Health Research and Educational Trust.)

Objectives: Determining appropriate capitated payments has important access implications for dual-eligible Medicare Advantage (MA) members. In 2017, MA plans began receiving higher capitated payments for beneficiaries with full vs partial Medicaid when payments started being risk adjusted for level of Medicaid benefits instead of any Medicaid participation. This approach could favor MA plans in states with more generous Medicaid programs where more beneficiaries qualify for full Medicaid and thus a higher capitated payment. To understand this issue, we examined adjusted Medicare spending for dual-eligible beneficiaries across states with differing Medicaid eligibility criteria., Study Design: Retrospective analysis of 2007-2015 traditional Medicare data for dual-eligible beneficiaries 65 years and older., Methods: We compared predicted per-beneficiary spending levels after adjusting for any Medicaid participation and for level of Medicaid benefits across states with varying Medicaid eligibility requirements., Results: States with the most generous Medicaid requirements had more dual-eligible beneficiaries with full Medicaid compared with the most restrictive states (median, 82% vs 55%). Nationally, Medicare spending levels were 1.3 times greater for full vs partial Medicaid participants (range across states, 0.8-1.7). When per-beneficiary spending was adjusted for level of Medicaid benefits, rather than any Medicaid participation, states with more generous Medicaid eligibility had larger gains in predicted spending per dual-eligible beneficiary than states with less generous Medicaid coverage (1.7% vs 1.3% increase)., Conclusions: Distinguishing between partial and full Medicaid in MA payments may disproportionately increase MA payments in states that have more full Medicaid beneficiaries due to more generous Medicaid eligibility.

Background: In recent years, policymakers have paid particular attention to the emergence of a robust for-profit hospice sector and increased hospice use by nursing home residents. Previous research has explored financial incentives for nursing home-hospice use, but there has been limited research on nursing home-hospice partnerships and none on the extent of nursing home-hospice common ownership., Objective: To describe trends in nursing home-hospice contracting and common ownership and to identify potential tradeoffs in care provided by nursing homes and hospice agencies that share common ownership., Research Design: Retrospective cohort study of nursing home-hospice patients between 2005 and 2015., Results: Between 2005 and 2015, the number of hospice agencies and nursing homes with common ownership grew substantially, now representing almost 1-in-5 providers in each sector. Relative to individuals using hospice in nursing homes without common ownership, adjusted analyses found that individuals receiving hospice from a commonly owned agency had a greater likelihood of having stays of 90 days or more [odds ratio (OR)=1.06; 95% confidence interval (CI), 1.02-1.10], having a stay resulting in a live discharge (OR=1.06; 95% CI, 1.02-1.11), and having at least 1 registered nurse/licensed practical nurse visit during the last 3 days of life (OR=1.17; 95% CI, 1.05-1.29); these individuals also had a lower mean visit hours per day (-0.07; P=0.003)., Conclusions: Common ownership between hospice agencies and nursing homes is an emerging trend that reflects a broader push toward consolidation in the health care sector. Our analyses highlight potential concerns relevant to Medicare payment policy and are a first step toward improving our understanding of these trends and their implications.

Importance: Overall, 1 of 5 decedents in the United States is admitted to an intensive care unit (ICU) before death., Objective: To describe structures, processes, and variability of end-of-life care delivered in ICUs in the United States., Design, Setting, and Participants: This nationwide cohort study used data on 16 945 adults who were cared for in ICUs that participated in the 68-unit ICU Liberation Collaborative quality improvement project from January 2015 through April 2017. Data were analyzed between August 2018 and June 2019., Main Outcomes and Measures: Published quality measures and end-of-life events, organized by key domains of end-of-life care in the ICU., Results: Of 16 945 eligible patients in the collaborative, 1536 (9.1%) died during their initial ICU stay. Of decedents, 654 (42.6%) were women, 1037 (67.5%) were 60 years or older, and 1088 (70.8%) were identified as white individuals. Wide unit-level variation in end-of-life care delivery was found. For example, the median unit-stratified rate of cardiopulmonary resuscitation avoidance in the last hour of life was 89.5% (interquartile range, 83.3%-96.1%; range, 50.0%-100%). Median rates of patients who were pain free and delirium free in last 24 hours of life were 75.1% (interquartile range, 66.0%-85.7%; range, 0-100%) and 60.0% (interquartile range, 43.7%-85.2%; range, 9.1%-100%), respectively. Ascertainment of an advance directive was associated with lower odds of cardiopulmonary resuscitation in the last hour of life (odds ratio, 0.70; 95% CI, 0.49-0.99; P = .04), and a documented offer or delivery of spiritual support was associated with higher odds of family presence at the time of death (odds ratio, 1.95; 95% CI, 1.37-2.77; P < .001). Death in a unit with an open visitation policy was associated with higher odds of pain in the last 24 hours of life (odds ratio, 2.21; 95% CI, 1.15-4.27; P = .02). Unsupervised cluster analysis revealed 3 mutually exclusive unit-level patterns of end-of-life care delivery among 63 ICUs with complete data. Cluster 1 units (14 units [22.2%]) had the lowest rate of cardiopulmonary resuscitation avoidance but achieved the highest pain-free rate. Cluster 2 (25 units [39.7%]) had the lowest delirium-free rate but achieved high rates of all other end-of-life events. Cluster 3 (24 units [38.1%]) achieved high rates across all favorable end-of-life events., Conclusions and Relevance: In this study, end-of-life care delivery varied substantially among ICUs in the United States, and the patterns of care observed suggest that units can be characterized as higher and lower performing. To achieve optimal care for patients who die in an ICU, future research should target unit-level variation and disseminate the successes of higher-performing units.

Staffing is an important quality measure that is included on the federal Nursing Home Compare website. New payroll-based data reveal large daily staffing fluctuations, low weekend staffing, and daily staffing levels often below the expectations of the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS). These data provide a more accurate and complete staffing picture for CMS and consumers.

Consistently accounting for more than 50% of the nursing homes in the United States, corporate chains have played an important role in the industry for several decades. However, few studies have explicitly considered the role of chains in measuring competition in nursing home markets. In this study, we use a newly developed database tracking common ownership over a period of nearly two decades to compare chain-adjusted and unadjusted measures of competition at the county and 25 km fixed-radius levels and explore how the differences would affect the assessment of local market structure. On average, the chain-adjusted Herfindahl-Hirschman Indexes (HHIs) are about 0.02 higher than the unadjusted HHIs. Each year, about 20% to 22% of the counties would appear more concentrated when recalculating HHIs accounting for common ownership. Evidence suggests that nursing home chains tend to focus more on expanding access to new markets within a state than to increasing market power within a smaller local market.

Background/objectives: Relatively little is known regarding predictors of advance care planning (ACP) in former nurses. We aimed to evaluate potential predictors of ACP documentation and discussion., Design: Cross-sectional study, 2012-2014., Setting: Nurses' Health Study., Participants: A total of 60,917 community-dwelling female nurses aged 66 to 93 years living across the United States., Measurements: Based on self-reports, participants were categorized as having (1) only ACP documentation, (2) ACP documentation and a recent ACP discussion with a healthcare provider, or (3) neither. Multivariable log-binomial models were used to estimate prevalence ratios (PRs) and 95% confidence intervals (CIs) of the two separate ACP categories vs those with neither. We evaluated various demographic, health, and social factors., Results: The large majority (84%) reported ACP documentation; 35% reported a recent ACP discussion. Demographic factors such as age and race were associated with both ACP categories. In multivariable analyses, race was most strongly associated: compared with whites, African Americans were 27% less likely (PR = 0.73; 95% CI = 0.69-0.78) to report ACP documentation alone and 41% (PR = 0.59; 95% CI = 0.54-0.66) less likely to report documentation with discussion. Additionally, health/healthcare-related characteristics were more strongly associated with ACP documentation plus discussion. Women with functional limitations (PR = 1.15; 95% CI = 1.10-1.20), women who were recently hospitalized (PR: 1.10; 95% CI = 1.08-1.12) or women who had seen a physician for health symptoms (PR = 1.43; 95% CI = 1.35-1.52) or screening (PR = 1.40; 95% CI = 1.32-1.49) were more likely to report having both ACP documentation and discussion. Social factors showed limited relationships with ACP documentation only; for documentation plus discussion, being widowed and living alone was associated with higher prevalence (PR = 1.21; 95% CI = 1.19-1.24) and having little emotional support was associated with lower prevalence (PR = 0.84; 95% CI = 0.81-0.86)., Conclusions: Among older nurses, most of whom reported having documented ACP, 35% reported recent patient-clinician ACP discussions, indicating a major participatory gap in an element critical to ACP effectiveness. Even in nurses, African Americans reported less ACP documentation or discussion. J Am Geriatr Soc 67:292-301, 2019., (© 2018, Copyright the AuthorJournal compilation © 2018, The American Geriatrics Society.)

Background: Standardization in production is common in multientity chain organizations. Although chains are prominent in the nursing home sector, standardization in care has not been studied. One way nursing home chains may standardize is by controlling the level and mix of staffing in member homes., Objectives: To examine the extent to which standardization occurred in staffing, its relative presence across different types of chains, and whether facilities became more standardized following acquisition by a chain., Research Design: We estimated predictors of the difference between facility and chain staffing using Generalized Estimating Equations with 2000-2010 data., Subjects: This study included nursing homes nationally, excluding hospital-based homes and homes in Alaska, Hawaii, and the District of Columbia., Measures: Chain ownership was coded from text identifying chain names. Two nurse staffing measures were used: staff hours per resident day and staff mix., Results: Very large for-profit chain nursing homes and large nonprofits had less variation in staff hours per resident day (P<0.001) but greater variation in staffing mix (P<0.001) compared with the chain average nationally. Large for-profit chains and medium nonprofit chains had greater dispersion on staff hours per resident day (P<0.001), while large nonprofit chains had greater dispersion in staffing mix (P<0.001). The difference between facility and chain staffing decreased over time., Conclusions: The largest chains (for-profit and nonprofit) had less staffing variation compared with national standards, suggesting they were best at implementing corporate practices. Following ownership changes, staffing converged towards chain averages over time, suggesting standardization takes time to implement.

Issue: Over the past decade, traditional Medicare’s per-beneficiary spending grew at historically low levels. To understand this phenomenon, it is important to examine trends in postacute care, which experienced exceptionally high spending growth in prior decades., Goal: Describe per-beneficiary spending trends between 2007 and 2015 for postacute care services among traditional Medicare beneficiaries age 65 and older., Methods: Trend analysis of individual-level Medicare administrative data to generate per-beneficiary spending and utilization estimates for postacute care, including skilled nursing facilities, home health, and inpatient rehabilitation facilities., Key Findings and Conclusions: Per-beneficiary postacute care spending increased from $1,248 to $1,424 from 2007 to 2015. This modest increase reflects dramatic changes in annual spending and utilization growth rates, including a reversal from positive to negative spending growth rates for the skilled nursing facility and home health sectors. For example, the average annual spending growth rate for skilled nursing facility services declined from 7.4 percent over the 2008–11 period to –2.8 percent over the 2012–15 period. Among beneficiaries with inpatient use, growth rates for postacute care spending and utilization slowed, but more moderately than observed among all beneficiaries. Reductions in hospital use, as well as reduced payment rates, contributed to declines in postacute spending.

End-of-life care is often overly aggressive and inconsistent with patients' preferences. Although end-of-life care could therefore be a natural target for accountable care organizations (ACOs) in their efforts to reduce spending, identifying and curbing wasteful care for patients at high risk of death may be challenging. To date, the impact of ACOs on end-of-life care has not been quantified. Using fee-for-service Medicare claims through 2015 and a difference-in-differences approach, we found evidence of some changes in end-of-life care associated with providers' participation in the Medicare Shared Savings Program among both decedents and patients at high risk of death. Although generally suggestive of less aggressive care, most effects were small and inconsistent across cohorts of ACOs entering the program in different years. This suggests that ACOs have not yet substantially altered end-of-life care patterns and that additional incentives, time, or both may be needed. Alternatively, curbing wasteful end-of-life care might not be a viable source of substantial savings under population-based payment models.

Cost containment for dual-eligible beneficiaries (those enrolled in Medicare and Medicaid) is a key policy goal, but few studies have examined spending trends for this population. We contrasted growth in Medicare fee-for-service per beneficiary spending for those with and without Medicaid in the period 2007-15. Relative to Medicare-only enrollees, dual-eligible beneficiaries consistently had higher overall Medicare spending levels; however, they experienced steeper declines in spending growth over the study period. These trends varied across populations of interest. For instance, dual-eligible beneficiaries ages sixty-five and older went from having annual spending growth rates that were 1.8 percentage points higher than Medicare-only beneficiaries in 2008 to rates that were 1.1 percentage points lower in 2015. Across population groups, long-term users of nursing home care had some of the highest spending growth rates, averaging 1.7-4.1 percent annually depending on age group and Medicaid participation. These findings have implications for value-based payment and other Medicare policies aimed at controlling spending for dual-eligible beneficiaries.

Specialty care units (SCUs) in nursing homes (NHs) grew in popularity during the 1990s to attract residents while national policies and treatment paradigms changed. Alzheimer disease has consistently been the dominant form of SCU. This study explored the extent to which chain affiliation, which is common among NHs, affected SCU bed designation. Using data from the Online Survey Certification and Reporting (OSCAR) from 1996 through 2010 with 207 431 NH-year observations, we described trends and compared chain-affiliated NHs with independent NHs. Designation of beds for Alzheimer disease SCUs grew from 1996 to 2003 and then declined. At the peak, 19.6% of all NHs had at least one Alzheimer disease SCU bed. In general, chain affiliation promoted Alzheimer disease SCU bed designation across time, chain size, and NH profit status. During the period of largest growth from 1996 to 2003, the likelihood of designation of Alzheimer disease SCU beds was 1.55 percentage points higher among for-profit NHs affiliated with large chains than independent for-profit NHs ( P < .001) and remained 1.28 percentage points higher from 2004 to 2010. However, chain-affiliated NHs generally had a lower percentage of residents with dementia than independent NHs. For example, although for-profit NHs affiliated with large chains had more Alzheimer disease SCU beds, they had nearly 3% fewer residents with dementia than independent NHs ( P < .001). We conclude that organizational decisions to designate beds for Alzheimer disease SCUs may be related to marketing strategies to attract residents since adoption of Alzheimer disease SCUs has fluctuated over time, but did not appear driven by demand.

The sharing of investors across firms is a new antitrust focus because of its potential negative effects on competition. Historically, the ability to track common investors across the continuum of health care providers has been limited. Thus, little is known about common investor ownership structures that might exist across health care delivery systems and how these linkages have evolved over time. We used data from the Provider Enrollment, Chain, and Ownership System of the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services to identify common investor ownership linkages across the acute care, postacute care, and hospice sectors within the same geographic markets. To our knowledge, this study provides the first description of common investor ownership trends in these sectors. We found that the percentage of acute care hospitals having common investor ties to the postacute or hospice sectors increased from 24.6 percent in 2005 to 48.9 percent in 2015. These changes have important implications for antitrust, payment, and regulatory policies., (Project HOPE—The People-to-People Health Foundation, Inc.)

Objective: To evaluate the impact of the Nursing Home Value-Based Purchasing demonstration on quality of care and Medicare spending., Data Sources/study Setting: Administrative and qualitative data from Arizona, New York, and Wisconsin nursing homes over the base-year (2008-2009) and 3-year (2009-2012) demonstration period., Study Design: Nursing homes were randomized to the intervention in New York, while the comparison facilities were constructed via propensity score matching in Arizona and Wisconsin. We used a difference-in-difference analysis to compare outcomes across the base-year relative to outcomes in each of the three demonstration years. To provide context and assist with interpretation of results, we also interviewed staff members at participating facilities., Principal Findings: Medicare savings were observed in Arizona in the first year only and Wisconsin for the first 2 years; no savings were observed in New York. The demonstration did not systematically impact any of the quality measures. Discussions with nursing home administrators suggested that facilities made few, if any, changes in response to the demonstration, leading us to conclude that the observed savings likely reflected regression to the mean rather than true savings., Conclusion: The Federal nursing home pay-for-performance demonstration had little impact on quality or Medicare spending., (© Health Research and Educational Trust.)

Importance: Postacute care is thought to be a major source of wasteful spending. The extent to which accountable care organizations (ACOs) can limit postacute care spending has implications for the importance and design of other payment models that include postacute care., Objective: To assess changes in postacute care spending and use of postacute care associated with provider participation as ACOs in the Medicare Shared Savings Program (MSSP) and the pathways by which they occurred., Design, Setting, and Participants: With the use of fee-for-service Medicare claims from a random 20% sample of beneficiaries with 25 544 650 patient-years, 8 395 426 hospital admissions, and 1 595 352 stays in skilled nursing facilities (SNFs) from January 1, 2009, to December 31, 2014, difference-in-difference comparisons of beneficiaries served by ACOs with beneficiaries served by local non-ACO health care professionals (control group) were performed before vs after entry into the MSSP. Differential changes were estimated separately for cohorts of ACOs entering the MSSP in 2012, 2013, and 2014., Exposures: Patient attribution to an ACO in the MSSP., Main Outcomes and Measures: Postacute spending, discharge to a facility, length of SNF stays, readmissions, use of highly rated SNFs, and mortality, adjusted for patient characteristics., Results: For the 2012 cohort of 114 ACOs, participation in the MSSP was associated with an overall reduction in postacute spending (differential change in 2014 for ACOs vs control group, -$106 per beneficiary [95% CI, -$176 to -$35], or -9.0% of the precontract unadjusted mean of $1172; P = .003) that was driven by differential reductions in acute inpatient care, discharges to facilities rather than home (-0.6 percentage points [95% CI, -1.1 to 0.0], or -2.7% of the unadjusted precontract mean of 22.6%; P = .03), and length of SNF stays (-0.60 days per stay [95% CI, -0.99 to -0.22], or -2.2% of the precontract unadjusted mean of 27.07 days; P = .002). Reductions in use of SNFs and length of stay were largely due to within-hospital or within-SNF changes in care specifically for ACO patients. Participation in the MSSP was associated with smaller significant reductions in SNF spending in 2014 for the 2013 ACO cohort (-$27 per beneficiary [95% CI, -$49 to -$6], or -3.3% of the precontract unadjusted mean of $813; P = .01) but not in the 2013 or 2014 cohort's first year of participation (-$13 per beneficiary [95% CI, -$33 to $6]; P = .19; and $4 per beneficiary [95% CI, -$15 to $24]; P = .66). Estimates were similar for ACOs with and without financial ties to hospitals. Participation in the MSSP was not associated with significant changes in 30-day readmissions, use of highly rated SNFs, or mortality., Conclusions and Relevance: Participation in the MSSP has been associated with significant reductions in postacute spending without ostensible deterioration in quality of care. Spending reductions were more consistent with clinicians working within hospitals and SNFs to influence care for ACO patients than with hospital-wide initiatives by ACOs or use of preferred SNFs.

A key feature of private long-term care insurance is that medical underwriters screen out would-be buyers who have health conditions that portend near-term physical or cognitive disability. We applied common underwriting criteria based on data from two long-term care insurers to a nationally representative sample of individuals in the target age range (50-71 years) for long-term care insurance. The screening criteria put upper bounds on the current proportion of Americans who could gain coverage in the individual market without changes to medical underwriting practice. Specifically, our simulations show that in the target age range, approximately 30 percent of those whose wealth meets minimum industry standards for suitability for long-term care insurance would have their application for such insurance rejected at the underwriting stage. Among the general population-without considering financial suitability-we estimated that 40 percent would have their applications rejected. The predicted rejection rates are substantially higher than the rejection rates of about 20-25 percent of applicants in the actual market. In evaluating reforms for long-term care financing and their potential to increase private insurance rates, as well as to reduce financial pressure on public safety-net programs, policy makers need to consider the role of underwriting in the market for long-term care insurance., (Project HOPE—The People-to-People Health Foundation, Inc.)

Currently, the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ) Common Format for nursing homes (NHs) accommodates voluntary reporting for 4 adverse events: falls with injury, pressure ulcers, medication errors, and infections. In 2015, AHRQ funded a technical brief to describe the state of the science related to safety in the NH setting to inform a research agenda. Thirty-six recent systematic reviews evaluated NH safety-related interventions to address these 4 adverse events and reported mostly mixed evidence about effective approaches to ameliorate them. Furthermore, these 4 events are likely inadequate to capture safety issues that are unique to the NH setting and encompass other domains related to residents' quality of care and quality of life. Future research needs include expanding our definition of safety in the NH setting, which differs considerably from that of hospitals, to include contributing factors to adverse events as well as more resident-centered care measures. Second, future research should reflect more rigorous implementation science to include objective measures of care processes related to adverse events, intervention fidelity, and staffing resources for intervention implementation to inform broader uptake of efficacious interventions. Weaknesses in implementation contribute to the current inconclusive and mixed evidence base as well as remaining questions about what outcomes are even achievable in the NH setting, given the complexity of most resident populations. Also related to implementation, future research should determine the effects of specific staffing models on care processes related to safety outcomes. Last, future efforts should explore the potential for safety issues in other care settings for older adults, most notably dementia care within assisted living., (Copyright © 2016 AMDA – The Society for Post-Acute and Long-Term Care Medicine. All rights reserved.)

Demand-side barriers are known to be important toward explaining the limited purchase of private long-term care insurance (LTCI). In this study, we examine several factors associated with the demand for LTCI including the availability of less costly substitutes (e.g., Medicaid, family), consumer information, and risk perception. Using buyer surveys from 2000, 2005, and 2010, our results suggest that, among individuals not eliminated through medical underwriting, consumer risk perception and the presence of lower cost, imperfect substitutes are strongly associated with the limited purchase of LTCI. These factors were also predictive of the generosity of coverage purchased. If policymakers seek to stimulate demand for LTCI, new public policies might include Medicaid reform, integrating LTCI with Medicare Advantage plans, enhanced LTCI offerings through employers, and targeted informational campaigns.

Two defining features of the nursing home industry are the tremendous churn in chain ownership and the perception of low-quality care at many facilities. We examined whether nursing homes that underwent chain-related transactions, such as mergers and acquisitions, experienced a larger number of health deficiency citations than nursing homes that maintained common ownership over the same period. Using facility-level data for the period 1993-2010, we found that those nursing homes that underwent chain-related transactions had more deficiency citations in the years preceding and following a transaction than those nursing homes that maintained common ownership. Thus, we did not find that these transactions led to a decline in quality. Instead, we found that chains targeted nursing homes that were already having quality problems and that these problems persisted after the transaction. Given the high frequency of nursing home chain transactions, policy makers will need to continue to invest in tracking, reporting, and overseeing these transactions. One important step would be to report more detailed data on chain ownership, transactions, and aggregate chain quality on the Nursing Home Compare website, the federal government's online report card for nursing homes., (Project HOPE—The People-to-People Health Foundation, Inc.)

Objectives: To assess differences in populations and service use according to hospice ownership, chain status, and agency size., Design: Retrospective cohort study., Setting: United States., Participants: Medicare beneficiaries aged 65 and older enrolled in hospice during 2005 to 2011 N = 5,405,526)., Measurements: Hospice use according to ownership category (for-profit nonchain and chain, not-for-profit nonchain and chain, government) and agency size (0-50, 51-200, 201-400, ≥401 individuals discharged each year). Mean length of use, stays of 3 days or fewer, stays ending with live discharge, and decedents receiving no general inpatient care (GIP)- or continuous home care (CHC)-level hospice in the last 7 days of life., Results: After adjusting for individual and geographic differences, for-profit nonchain and chain agencies had longer mean length of use (84.5 and 91.2 days, respectively) than other agency types (66.3-72.5 days), higher rates of live discharge (21.0% and 20.2% vs 14.6-15.9%), and lower proportions of stays of 3 days or fewer (13.9% and 14.7% vs 16.6-17.5%) (all P < .001). The proportion of decedents not receiving GIP- or CHC-level care before death was highest in for-profit chains (75.9%) and lowest in not-for-profit nonchains (63.2%). Smaller agencies had longer mean length of use, higher live discharge rates, lower rates of stays of 3 days or fewer, and higher rates of individuals receiving no GIP- or CHC-level care. There were considerable differences in patient traits and unadjusted service use between the nation's largest chains., Conclusion: In addition to for-profit and not-for-profit hospice agencies differing according to important dimensions, there is substantial heterogeneity within these ownership categories, highlighting the need to consider factors such as agency size and chain affiliation in understanding variations in Medicare beneficiaries' hospice care., (© 2016, Copyright the Authors Journal compilation © 2016, The American Geriatrics Society.)

Under health care reform, new financing and delivery models are being piloted to integrate health and long-term care services for older adults. Programs using these models generally have not included residential care facilities. Instead, most of them have focused on long-term care recipients in the community or the nursing home. Our analyses indicate that individuals living in residential care facilities have similarly high rates of chronic illness and Medicare utilization when compared with matched individuals in the community and nursing home, and rates of functional dependency that fall between those of their counterparts in the other two settings. These results suggest that the residential care facility population could benefit greatly from models that coordinated health and long-term care services. However, few providers have invested in the infrastructure needed to support integrated delivery models. Challenges to greater care integration include the private-pay basis for residential care facility services, which precludes shared savings from reduced Medicare costs, and residents' preference for living in a home-like, noninstitutional environment., (Project HOPE—The People-to-People Health Foundation, Inc.)

Objective: To explore the impact of nursing home acquisition by private investment firms on nursing home costs, revenue, and overall financial health., Data Sources: Merged data from the Medicare Cost Reports and the Online Survey, Certification, and Reporting system for the period 1998-2010., Study Design: Regression specification incorporating facility and time fixed effects., Principal Findings: We found little impact on the financial health of nursing homes following purchase by private investment companies. However, our findings did suggest that private investment firms acquired nursing home chains in good financial health, possibly to derive profit from the company's real estate holdings., Conclusions: Private investment acquired facilities are an important feature of today's nursing home sector. Although we did not observe a negative impact on the financial health of nursing homes, this development raises important issues about ownership oversight and transparency for the entire nursing home sector., (© Health Research and Educational Trust.)

Analyses of ownership in the US hospice sector have focused on the growth of for-profit hospice care and on aggregate differences in patient populations and service use patterns between for-profit and not-for-profit agencies. Such comparisons, although useful, do not offer insights about the types of organizations within the hospice sector, including the emergence of multiagency chains. Using Medicare cost report data for the period 2000-11, we tracked the evolution of the US hospice industry. We not only describe the market's composition by profit status but also provide new information about the roles of regional and national chains. Almost half of all Medicare hospice enrollees in 2011 received hospice services from a multiagency chain. A handful of companies play a prominent role, although the presence of smaller for-profit and not-for-profit hospice chains also has grown in recent years. By focusing on the role of the diverse organizations that provide hospice care, our analyses can help inform efforts to monitor and assure quality of care, to assess payment adequacy and options for reform, and to facilitate greater transparency and accountability within the hospice marketplace., (Project HOPE—The People-to-People Health Foundation, Inc.)

Background: Two prominent challenges in nursing home care are ensuring appropriate medication use and achieving high-quality care as residents transition from the hospital to the nursing home. Research about prescribing practices at this important clinical juncture is limited., Objective: To analyze the use of high-risk medications by nursing home residents before and after being hospitalized. We define high-risk medications using the Beers criteria for potentially inappropriate medication use., Research Design, Subjects, Measures: Using a dataset with Medicare claims for inpatient and skilled nursing facility stays and pharmacy claims for all medications dispensed in the nursing home setting, we examine high-risk medication use for hospitalized nursing home residents before and after being hospitalized. Our study population includes 52,559 dual-eligible nursing home residents aged 65 and older who are hospitalized and then readmitted to the same nursing home in 2008. Our primary outcome of interest is the use of high-risk medications in the 30 days before hospitalization and the 30 days following readmission to the same nursing home., Results: Around 1 in 5 (21%) hospitalized nursing home residents used at least 1 high-risk medication the day before hospitalization. Among individuals with high-risk medication use at hospitalization, the proportion using these medications dropped to 45% after nursing home readmission but increased thereafter, to 59% by the end of the 30-day period., Conclusion: We found moderate levels of high-risk medication use by hospitalized nursing home residents before and after their hospital stays, constituting an important clinical and policy challenge.

Objectives: In 2006, Medicare Part D transitioned prescription drug coverage for dual-eligible nursing home residents from Medicaid to Medicare and randomly assigned them to Part D prescription drug plans (PDPs). Because PDPs may differ in coverage, plans may be more or less generous for drugs that an individual is taking. Taking advantage of the fact that randomization mitigates potential selection bias common in observational studies, this study sought to assess the effect of PDP coverage on resident outcomes for three medication classes--antidepressants, antipsychotics, and cholinesterase inhibitors., Design: Retrospective cohort study to examine the effect of coverage restrictions--including noncoverage and coverage with restrictions--on depression, hallucinations and delusions, aggressive behaviors, cognitive performance, and activities of daily living for dual-eligible nursing home residents randomized to PDPs in 2006 to 2008. The analyses further adjusted for baseline health status to address any residual imbalances in the comparison groups., Setting: Linked data from Medicare claims, Minimum Data Set assessments, pharmacy claims, and PDP formulary information., Participants: Dual-eligible nursing home residents aged 65 and older living in facilities that contracted with a single pharmacy provider., Results: PDP coverage restrictions in three medication classes of interest were not significantly associated with the resident outcomes examined. Although cholinesterase inhibitor users facing coverage restrictions had a 0.04-point lower depression rating score than residents facing no restrictions, this difference was not statistically significant after adjusting for multiple comparisons., Conclusion: The findings suggest that exogenous changes in coverage for three commonly used medication classes had no detectable effect on nursing home resident outcomes in 2006 to 2008. There are several possible explanations for this lack of association, including the role of policy protections for dual-eligible nursing home residents and the possibility that suitable clinical alternatives were identified or that previously used medications offered little clinical benefit., (© 2014, Copyright the Authors Journal compilation © 2014, The American Geriatrics Society.)

Background: Relative to traditional fee-for-service Medicare, managed care plans caring for Medicare beneficiaries may be better positioned to promote recommended services and discourage burdensome procedures with little clinical value at the end of life., Objective: To compare end-of-life service use for enrollees in Medicare Advantage health maintenance organizations (MA-HMO) relative to similar individuals enrolled in traditional Medicare (TM)., Research Design, Subjects, Measures: For a national cohort of Medicare decedents continuously enrolled in MA-HMOs or TM in their year of death, 2003-2009, we obtained hospice enrollment information and individual-level Healthcare Effectiveness Data and Information Set utilization measures for MA-HMO decedents for up to 1 year before death. We developed comparable claims-based measures for TM decedents matched on age, sex, race, and location., Results: Hospice use in the year preceding death was higher among MA than TM decedents in 2003 (38% vs. 29%), but the gap narrowed over the study period (46% vs. 40% in 2009). Relative to TM, MA decedents had significantly lower rates of inpatient admissions (5%-14% lower), inpatient days (18%-29% lower), and emergency department visits (42%-54% lower). MA decedents initially had lower rates of ambulatory surgery and procedures that converged with TM rates by 2009 and had modestly lower rates of physician visits initially that surpassed TM rates by 2007., Conclusions: Relative to comparable TM decedents in the same local areas, MA-HMO decedents more frequently enrolled in hospice and used fewer inpatient and emergency department services, demonstrating that MA plans provide less end-of-life care in hospital settings.

Background: In 2006, dual-eligible nursing home residents were randomly assigned to a Medicare Part D prescription drug plan (PDP). Subsequently, residents not enrolled in qualified plans at the start of the next year were rerandomized. PDPs vary in generosity through differences in medication coverage and utilization management. Therefore, residents' assigned plans may be relatively more or less generous for their particular drugs. The impact of generosity on residents' medication use and health outcomes is unknown., Methods: Using data from 2005 to 2008, we estimated logistic regression models of the impact of coverage and utilization management on the risk for medication changes and gaps in use, hospitalizations, and death among elderly nursing home residents using 1 of 6 selected drug classes, adjusting for patient characteristics., Results: Few current medication users faced noncoverage of their drug (0.4% to 8.7%) or prior authorization or step therapy requirements if the drug was covered (1.1% to 37.4%). After adjusting for individual-level covariates, residents with noncovered drugs were more likely than residents with covered drugs to change medications in most classes studied (eg, for 2006 angiotensin receptor blocker users, the adjusted average probability of medication change was 0.35 when uncovered vs. 0.11 when covered). Those subjected to prior authorization or step therapy were more likely to change in a subset of classes. There were no statistically significant differences in the rates of hospitalization or death after correcting for multiple comparisons., Conclusions: The Part D benefit's special protections for nursing home residents may have ameliorated the health impact of coverage limits on this frail elderly population.

Background: The tort system is supposed to help improve the quality and safety of health care, but whether it actually does so is controversial. Most previous studies modeling the effect of negligence litigation on quality of care are ecologic., Objective: To assess whether the experience of being sued and incurring litigation costs affects the quality of care subsequently delivered in nursing homes., Research Design, Subjects, Measures: We linked information on 6471 negligence claims brought against 1514 nursing homes between 1998 and 2010 to indicators of nursing home quality drawn from 2 US national datasets (Online Survey, Certification, and Reporting system; Minimum Data Set Quality Measure/Indicator Reports). At the facility level, we tested for associations between 9 quality measures and 3 variables indicating the nursing homes' litigation experience in the preceding 12-18 months (total indemnity payments; total indemnity payments plus administrative costs; ≥ 1 paid claims vs. none). The analyses adjusted for quality at baseline, case-mix, ownership, occupancy, year, and facility and state random effects., Results: Nearly all combinations of the 3 litigation exposure measures and 9 quality measures--27 models in all--showed an inverse relationship between litigation costs and quality. However, only a few of these associations were statistically significant, and the effect sizes were very small. For example, a doubling of indemnity payments was associated with a 1.1% increase in the number of deficiencies and a 2.2% increase in pressure ulcer rates., Conclusions: Tort litigation does not increase the quality performance of nursing homes, and may decrease it slightly.