SESSION ABSTRACT - Quality of Care, Costs, and Practice Patterns in Nursing Homes

In nursing homes, both quality of care and costs are highly dependent on practice patterns, including the organization of work. Nursing homes continue to face pressures to improve the quality of care they provide. Yet the fiscal and budgetary crises impacting both the federal and state governments increase the revenue constrains that nursing homes face, impacting their ability to change practice patterns and improve quality. In this session we will examine research findings demonstrating the complex relationships between practice patterns, quality of care, and costs in nursing homes.

“Is workforce turnover in nursing homes costly?” Mukamel, DB., Spector, WD., Limcangco, R., Wang, Y., Feng, Z., Mor, V.

"Effect of payer source on hospitalization risks among nursing home residents in New York State." Cai, S., Mukamel, DB., Veazie, P., Katz, P., Temkin-Greener, H.

“Hospice provider characteristics and the volume and intensity of nursing home hospice use.” Miller, SC., Lima, J., Gozalo, P., Venkatesh, N.

"Do work environment attributes impact the risk of pressure ulcers in nursing homes? Evidence from New York State." Temkin-Greener, H., Cai, S., Zheng, N., Zhao, H., Mukamel, DB.

“Impact of risk adjustment on cross-sectional variations and short-term stability of the nursing home outcome measure of urinary/fecal incontinence.” Li, Y., Schnelle, JF., Spector, WD., Glance, L., Mukamel, DB.

These studies offer empirical evidence on the relationship between costs and practice patterns, and their impact on quality. The findings highlight strategies for transforming the nursing home environment in efforts to improve quality and costs.