A Postacute Care Function Process Quality Measure for the Collection of Standardized Self-Care and Mobility Data: Development, Implementation, and Quality Measure Scores.

OBJECTIVE: To describe the development of and quality measure scores for the cross-setting postacute care function process quality measure that requires the collection of standardized self-care and mobility data at admission and discharge and at least 1 function goal. DESIGN: Description of the development and implementation of the quality measure and the associated standardized self-care and mobility data elements. Descriptive analyses of quality measure scores for the first calendar year using data from the Minimum Data Set, the Inpatient Rehabilitation Facility Patient Assessment Instrument, the Long-Term Care Hospitals (LTCH) Continuity Assessment Record and Evaluation Data Set, and Outcome and Assessment Information Set. SETTING: 15,127 skilled nursing facilities (SNFs), 1129 inpatient rehabilitation facilities (IRFs), 414 LTCHs, and 10,352 home health agencies (HHAs) in the United States. PARTICIPANTS: In total there were 9,216,943 stays/quality episodes (N = 9,216,943), including 2,084,774 SNF Medicare fee-for-service patient stays, 493,209 IRF Medicare patient stays, 161,714 patient stays, and 6,477,246 Medicare and Medicaid quality episodes. INTERVENTIONS: Not applicable. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: Scores for the cross-setting postacute care function process quality measure. RESULTS: The mean process quality measure scores for SNFs, IRFs, LTCHs, and HHAs were 95.5%, 99.7%, 99.1%, and 95.8, respectively. The 10th percentile scores for SNFs, IRFs, LTCHs, and HHAs were 88.5%, 99.3%, 98.4%, and 89.4, respectively, indicating that at least 90% of postacute care providers submitted the standardized data for a large proportion of their patients. Mean quality measure scores did not vary by provider characteristics. CONCLUSIONS: Most SNFs, IRFs, LTCHs, and HHAs submitted the self-care and mobility data, resulting in high quality measure scores during the first year of implementation. The availability of the standardized self-care and mobility data across postacute care settings offers the opportunity to compare the characteristics and functional outcomes of patients treated in postacute care.

Challenges and Lessons Learned for Acute Inpatient Rehabilitation of Persons With COVID-19: Clinical Presentation, Assessment, Needs, and Services Utilization.

OBJECTIVE: The aim of the study was to present: (1) physiatric care delivery amid the SARS-CoV-2 pandemic, (2) challenges, (3) data from the first cohort of post-COVID-19 inpatient rehabilitation facility patients, and (4) lessons learned by a research consortium of New York and New Jersey rehabilitation institutions. DESIGN: For this clinical descriptive retrospective study, data were extracted from post-COVID-19 patient records treated at a research consortium of New York and New Jersey rehabilitation inpatient rehabilitation facilities (May 1-June 30, 2020) to characterize admission criteria, physical space, precautions, bed numbers, staffing, employee wellness, leadership, and family communication. For comparison, data from the Uniform Data System and eRehabData databases were analyzed. The research consortium of New York and New Jersey rehabilitation members discussed experiences and lessons learned. RESULTS: The COVID-19 patients (N = 320) were treated during the study period. Most patients were male, average age of 61.9 yrs, and 40.9% were White. The average acute care length of stay before inpatient rehabilitation facility admission was 24.5 days; mean length of stay at inpatient rehabilitation facilities was 15.2 days. The rehabilitation research consortium of New York and New Jersey rehabilitation institutions reported a greater proportion of COVID-19 patients discharged to home compared with prepandemic data. Some institutions reported higher changes in functional scores during rehabilitation admission, compared with prepandemic data. CONCLUSIONS: The COVID-19 pandemic acutely affected patient care and overall institutional operations. The research consortium of New York and New Jersey rehabilitation institutions responded dynamically to bed expansions/contractions, staff deployment, and innovations that facilitated safe and effective patient care.

Is Discordance Between Recommended and Actual Postacute Discharge Setting a Risk Factor for Readmission in Patients With Congestive Heart Failure?

Background Readmissions in patients with congestive heart failure are common and often preventable. Limited data suggest that patients discharged to a less intensive postacute care setting than recommended are likely to readmit. We examined whether postacute setting discordance (discharge to a less intensive postacute setting than recommended by a physical and occupational therapist) was associated with hospital readmission in patients with congestive heart failure. We also assessed sociodemographic and clinical predictors of setting discordance. Methods and Results Retrospective analysis of administrative claims and electronic health record data was conducted on 25 500 adults with a discharge diagnosis of congestive heart failure from 12 acute care hospitals in Western Pennsylvania. Generalized linear mixed models were estimated to examine the association between postacute setting discordance and 30-day hospital readmission and to identify predictors of setting discordance. The 30-day readmission and postacute setting discordance rates were high (23.7%, 20.6%). While controlling for demographic and clinical covariates, patients in discordant postacute settings were more likely to be readmitted within 30 days (adjusted odds ratio [OR], 1.12; 95% CI, 1.04-1.20). The effect was also seen in the subgroup of patients with low mobility scores (adjusted OR, 1.20; 95% CI, 1.08-1.33). Factors associated with setting discordance were lower-income, higher comorbidity burden, therapist recommendation disagreement, and midrange mobility limitations. Conclusions Postacute setting discordance was associated with an increased readmission risk in patients hospitalized with congestive heart failure. Maximizing concordance between therapist recommended and actual postacute discharge setting may decrease readmissions. Understanding factors associated with post-acute setting discordance can inform strategies to improve the quality of the discharge process.

The Development of a Crosswalk for Functional Measures in Postacute Medicare Claims.

OBJECTIVE: Although Medicare assessment files will include Standardized Patient Assessment Data Elements from 2016 forward, lack of uniformity of functional data prior to 2016 impedes longitudinal research. The purpose of this study was to create crosswalks for postacute care assessment measures and the basic mobility and daily activities scales of the Activity Measure for Post-Acute Care (AM-PAC) and to test their accuracy and validity in development and validation datasets. METHODS: This cross-sectional study is a secondary analysis of AM-PAC, the Inpatient Rehabilitation Facility Patient Assessment Instrument, the Minimum Data Set, and the Outcome and Assessment Information Set data from 300 adults receiving rehabilitation recruited from 6 health care networks in 1 metropolitan area. Rasch analysis was used to co-calibrate items from the 3 measures onto the AM-PAC metric and to create look-up tables to create estimated AM-PAC (eAM-PAC) scores. Mean scores and correlation and agreement between actual and estimated scores were examined in the development dataset. Scores were estimated in a cohort of Medicare beneficiaries with hip, humerus and radius fractures. Correlations between eAM-PAC and Functional Independence Measure motor scores were examined. Differences in mean eAM-PAC scores were evaluated across groups of known differences (age, fracture type, dementia). RESULTS: Strong correlations were found between actual and eAM-PAC scores in the development dataset. Moderate to strong correlations were found between the eAM-PAC basic mobility and Functional Independence Measure motor scores in the validation dataset. Differences in basic mobility scores across known groups were statistically significant and appeared to be clinically important. Differences between mean daily activities scores were statistically significant but appeared not to be clinically important. CONCLUSION: Although further testing is warranted, the basic mobility crosswalk appears to provide valid scores for aggregate analysis of Medicare postacute care data. IMPACT: This study reports on a method to take data from different Medicare administrative data sources and estimate scores on 1 scale. This approach was applied separately for data related to basic mobility and to daily activities. This may allow researchers to overcome challenges with using Medicare administrative data from different sources.

The Montreal Cognitive Assessment in Veteran Postacute Care: Implications of Cut Scores.

BACKGROUND: The Montreal Cognitive Assessment (MoCA) is often used for cognitive screening across health care settings, especially in rehabilitation centers, where assessment and treatment of cognitive function is considered key for successful multidisciplinary treatment. Although the original MoCA validation study suggested a cut score of <26 to identify cognitive impairment, recent studies have suggested that lower cut scores should be applied. OBJECTIVES: To examine the percentage of positive screens for cognitive impairment using the MoCA in a veteran postacute care (PAC) rehabilitation setting and to identify the most accurate MoCA cut score based on criterion neuropsychological measures. METHODS: We obtained data from 81 veterans with diverse medical diagnoses who had completed the MoCA during their admission to a PAC unit. A convenience subsample of 50 veterans had also completed four criterion neuropsychological measures. RESULTS: Depending on the cut score used, the percentage of individuals classified as impaired based on MoCA performance varied widely, ranging from 6.2% to 92.6%. When predicting performance using a more comprehensive battery of criterion neuropsychological tests, we identified <22 as the most accurate MoCA cut score to identify a clinically relevant level of impairment and <24 to identify milder cognitive impairment. CONCLUSIONS: Our findings suggest that a MoCA cut score of <26 carries a risk of misdiagnosis of cognitive impairment, and scores in the range of <22 to <24 are more reliable for identifying cognitive impairment.

Impact of Self-Care and Mobility on One or More Post-Acute Care Transitions.

Objective: To investigate the association between functional status and post-acute care (PAC) transition(s). Methods: Secondary analysis of 2013-2014 Medicare data for individuals aged ≥66 years with stroke, lower extremity joint replacements, and hip/femur fracture discharged to one of three PAC settings (inpatient rehabilitation facilities, skilled nursing facilities, and home health agencies). Functional scores were co-calibrated into a 0-100 scale across settings. Multilevel logistic regression was used to test the partition of variance (%) and the probability of PAC transition attributed to the functional score in the initial PAC setting. Results: Patients discharged to inpatient rehabilitation facilities with higher function were less likely to use additional PAC. Function level in an inpatient rehabilitation facility explained more of the variance in PAC transitions than function level while in a skilled nursing facility. Discussion: The function level affected PAC transitions more for those discharged to an inpatient rehabilitation facility than to a skilled nursing facility.

Post-Acute Care Preparedness in a COVID-19 World.

Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) has led to a surge of patients requiring post-acute care. In order to support federal, state and corporate planning, we offer a four-stage regionally oriented approach to achieving optimal systemwide resource allocation across a region's post-acute service settings and providers over time. In the first stage, the post-acute care system must, to the extent possible, help relieve acute hospitals of non-COVID-19 patients to create as much inpatient capacity as possible over the surge period. In the second stage after the initial surge as subsided, post-acute providers must protect vulnerable populations from COVID-19, prepare treat-in-place protocols for non-COVID-19 admissions, and create and formalize COVID-19 specific settings. In the third stage after a vaccine has been developed or an effective prophylactic option is available, post-acute care providers must assist with distribution and administration of vaccinations and prophylaxis, develop strategies to deliver non-COVID-19 related medical care, and begin to transition to the post-COVID-19 landscape. In the final stage, we must create health advisory bodies to review post-acute sector's response, identify opportunities to improve performance going forward, and develop a pandemic response plan for post-acute care providers. J Am Geriatr Soc 68:1150-1154, 2020.

Beneficios de una unidad de mediana estancia en la rehabilitación de adultos mayores dependientes / Benefits of a subacute care unit in the rehabilitation of frail dependent older adults

Las Unidades de Mediana Estancia (UME) se definen como un recurso institucional con camas de hospitalización para pacientes ancianos, en donde ‒una vez superada la fase aguda de la enfermedad‒ sea posible efectuar un tratamiento a medio plazo, con recursos rehabilitadores, atención médica y cuidados de enfermería, todo ello con el propósito de conseguir la recuperación funcional y la reinserción en la comunidad. El objetivo de este trabajo fue efectuar un estudio cuasi experimental con propio individuo control antes-después con el fin de describir las características basales de los pacientes ingresados en la UME con objetivos de rehabilitación, así como su ganancia funcional luego de la intervención, medida como la diferencia entre el índice de Barthel al alta (valor final) y al ingreso en la UME (valor basal). Para ello se incluyeron 122 personas y se obtuvo como principal resultado una ganancia funcional positiva de 40 puntos y un parámetro de eficacia (ganancia funcional/días de internación) de 1,18. Los resultados obtenidos se consideran, de acuerdo con la literatura, como efectivos y eficaces. (AU)

Subacute Care Units are defined as an institutional resource with hospital beds where once a patient overcomes the acute phase of a disease, it is possible for him to undergo a rehabilitation treatment with the objective of achieving functional recovery and reintegration into the community. The purpose of this paper was to carry out a quasi-experimental before and after study where the subjects serve as their own controls, in order to describe the baseline characteristics of the patients admitted to the subacute care unit with rehabilitation objectives, as well as their functional gain after the intervention, measured as the difference between the Barthel index at discharge (final value) and admission to the EMU (baseline value). For this, 122 people were included, obtaining as main results a positive functional gain of 40 points (p <0.001) and an efficiency parameter (functional gain / days of hospitalization) of 1.18, considering the results obtained according to the literature as effective and efficient. (AU)

Post-discharge acute care and outcomes following readmission reduction initiatives: national retrospective cohort study of Medicare beneficiaries in the United States.

OBJECTIVES: To determine whether patients discharged after hospital admissions for conditions covered by national readmission programs who received care in emergency departments or observation units but were not readmitted within 30 days had an increased risk of death and to evaluate temporal trends in post-discharge acute care utilization in inpatient units, emergency departments, and observation units for these patients. DESIGN: Retrospective cohort study. SETTING: Medicare claims data for 2008-16 in the United States. PARTICIPANTS: Patients aged 65 or older admitted to hospital with heart failure, acute myocardial infarction, or pneumonia-conditions included in the US Hospital Readmissions Reduction Program. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: Post-discharge 30 day mortality according to patients' 30 day acute care utilization; acute care utilization in inpatient and observation units and the emergency department during the 30 day and 31-90 day post-discharge period. RESULTS: 3 772 924 hospital admissions for heart failure, 1 570 113 for acute myocardial infarction, and 3 131 162 for pneumonia occurred. The overall post-discharge 30 day mortality was 8.7% for heart failure, 7.3% for acute myocardial infarction, and 8.4% for pneumonia. Risk adjusted mortality increased annually by 0.05% (95% confidence interval 0.02% to 0.08%) for heart failure, decreased by 0.06% (-0.09% to -0.04%) for acute myocardial infarction, and did not significantly change for pneumonia. Specifically, mortality increased for patients with heart failure who did not utilize any post-discharge acute care, increasing at a rate of 0.08% (0.05% to 0.12%) per year, exceeding the overall absolute annual increase in post-discharge mortality in heart failure, without an increase in mortality in observation units or the emergency department. Concurrent with a reduction in 30 day readmission rates, stays for observation and visits to the emergency department increased across all three conditions during and beyond the 30 day post-discharge period. Overall 30 day post-acute care utilization did not change significantly. CONCLUSIONS: The only condition with increasing mortality through the study period was heart failure; the increase preceded the policy and was not present among patients who received emergency department or observation unit care without admission to hospital. During this period, the overall acute care utilization in the 30 days after discharge significantly decreased for heart failure and pneumonia, but not for acute myocardial infarction.

Comparison of Functional Status Improvements Among Patients With Stroke Receiving Postacute Care in Inpatient Rehabilitation vs Skilled Nursing Facilities.

Importance: Health care reform legislation and Medicare plans for unified payment for postacute care highlight the need for research examining service delivery and outcomes. Objective: To compare functional outcomes in patients with stroke after postacute care in inpatient rehabilitation facilities (IRF) vs skilled nursing facilities (SNF). Design, Setting, and Participants: This cohort study included patients with stroke who were discharged from acute care hospitals to IRF or SNF from January 1, 2013, to November 30, 2014. Medicare claims were used to link to IRF and SNF assessments. Data analyses were conducted from January 17, 2017, through April 25, 2019. Exposures: Inpatient rehabilitation received in IRFs vs SNFs. Main Outcomes and Measures: Changes in mobility and self-care measures during an IRF or SNF stay were compared using multivariate analyses, inverse probability weighting with propensity score, and instrumental variable analyses. Mortality between 30 and 365 days after discharge was included as a control outcome as an indicator for unmeasured confounders. Results: Among 99 185 patients who experienced a stroke between January 1, 2013, and November 30, 2014, 66 082 patients (66.6%) were admitted to IRFs and 33 103 patients (33.4%) were admitted to SNFs. A higher proportion of women were admitted to SNFs (21 466 [64.8%] women) than IRFs (36 462 [55.2%] women) (P < .001). Compared with patients admitted to IRFs, patients admitted to SNFs were older (mean [SD] age, 79.4 [7.6] years vs 83.3 [7.8] years; P < .001) and had longer hospital length of stay (mean [SD], 4.6 [3.0] days vs 5.9 [4.2] days; P < .001) than those admitted to IRFs. In unadjusted analyses, patients with stroke admitted to IRF compared with those admitted to SNF had higher mean scores for mobility on admission (44.2 [95% CI, 44.1-44.3] points vs 40.8 [95% CI, 40.7-40.9] points) and at discharge (55.8 [95% CI, 55.7-55.9] points vs 44.4 [95% CI, 44.3-44.5] points), and for self-care on admission (45.0 [95% CI, 44.9-45.1] points vs 41.8 [95% CI, 41.7-41.9] points) and at discharge (58.6 [95% CI, 58.5-58.7] points vs 45.1 [95% CI, 45.0-45.2] points). Additionally, patients in IRF compared with those in SNF had larger improvements for mobility score (11.6 [95% CI, 11.5-11.7] points vs 3.5 [95% CI, 3.4-3.6] points) and for self-care score (13.6 [95% CI, 13.5-13.7] points vs 3.2 [95% CI, 3.1-3.3] points). Multivariable, propensity score, and instrumental variable analyses showed a similar magnitude of better improvements in patients admitted to IRF vs those admitted to SNF. The differences between SNF and IRF in odds of 30- to 365-day mortality (unadjusted odds ratio, 0.48 [95% CI, 0.46-0.49]) were reduced but not eliminated in multivariable analysis (adjusted odds ratio, 0.72 [95% CI, 0.69-0.74]) and propensity score analysis (adjusted odds ratio, 0.75 [95% CI, 0.72-0.77]). These differences were no longer statistically significant in the instrumental variable analyses. Conclusions and Relevance: In this cohort study of a large national sample, inpatient rehabilitation in IRFs for patients with stroke was associated with substantially improved physical mobility and self-care function compared with rehabilitation in SNFs. This finding raises questions about the value of any policy that would reimburse IRFs or SNFs at the same standard rate for stroke.

Cardiac Rehabilitation as Part of Management in Postacute Care: Opportunities for Improving Care.

Cardiac rehabilitation is an evidence-based intervention, yet only 20% of eligible patients attend. Participation is even lower for patients discharged to postacute care. The lack of data surrounding the use, benefit, safety, and feasibility of cardiac rehabilitation for elderly cardiac patients has contributed to inaccurate perceptions and related patterns of underuse. However, recently published studies are creating new opportunities for the integration of cardiac rehabilitation into postacute care services. This article reviews the current state of reimbursement and use of cardiac rehabilitation, gaps in services, and opportunities to improve the use of cardiac rehabilitation, and provides recommendations for future research.

Predicting outcomes within an innovative post-acute rehabilitation model for older adults.

BACKGROUND: Understanding the provision of health services to community-dwelling older adults is of great importance due to regulatory changes within post-acute care. The aim of this study was to illustrate pathways by which older adults, within an innovative post-acute care delivery model, move to either independence or re-admission back into higher levels of care to maximize the value of rehabilitation delivery. METHODS: Clinical data specific to an episode of care (n = 30,001) provided to Medicare beneficiaries treated via a rehabilitation house-calls model of care in their homes and senior living communites were separated into training and test sets. Classification trees were fit on the training set's administrative and clinical variables. Descriptive statistics were calculated for the overall sample, patient characteristics, clinical characteristics, and clinical outcomes. RESULTS: Subjects were 83.3 years on average, 69.4% were female, and 62.2% were seen in their own homes while 37.8% were in senior living. The key variables predictive of progressing to independence were total number of visits, the presence of the Patient Specific Functional Scale (PSFS), PSFS score at discharge and change in PSFS. Prediction accuracy of the classification tree on the test set was 82.4%. CONCLUSIONS: Older adults progress to a higher degree of independence, instead of higher levels of care, via several distinct pathways within a rehabilitation house-calls model of care. A mix of service utilization and outcome variables are key predictors of each pathway and may be used to maximize the value of service delivery. Further examination of the predictors of outcome using administrative datasets drawn from different sub-sets of older adults across the post-acute care continuum is warranted.

Caregivers' Perceptions Managing Functional Needs Among Older Adults Receiving Post-Acute Home Health Care.

Caregivers play important roles in managing the physical functioning (PF) needs of older adults transitioning home after a hospitalization. Training and support of caregivers in the post-acute home health care (HHC) setting should incorporate caregivers' perspectives. To explore caregivers' experiences managing PF needs in the post-acute HHC setting, semi-structured telephone interviews of 20 caregivers were conducted. Conventional content analysis revealed patient-, caregiving task-, caregiver-, and home environment-related themes consistent with the Theory of Dependent Care. Caregivers highlighted the dynamics and contributors of PF needs for older patients in the post-acute HHC setting and depicted the enormity of caregiving tasks needed to manage older patients' PF needs. Caregivers also described their perceived roles and challenges in managing PF deficits, including a sense of isolation when they were the sole caregiver. Findings from this research can guide nursing efforts to target caregiver training and support during this critical care transition. [Res Gerontol Nurs. 2019; 12(4):174-183.].

Impact of skilled nursing facility quality on postoperative outcomes after pancreatic surgery.

BACKGROUND: Data on skilled nursing facility utilization among patients undergoing pancreatic surgery remain scarce. We sought to define the incidence of utilization of skilled nursing facilities and determine the impact of skilled nursing facility quality markers on postoperative outcomes among patients who underwent pancreatic surgery. METHODS: Medicare Standard Analytic Files were used to identify patients who underwent pancreatic resection during 2013-2015. Nursing Home Compare datasets were used to examine the influence of skilled nursing facility quality as estimated by quality markers (Medicare star ratings) on postoperative outcomes. RESULTS: Among 13,018 patients who underwent pancreatectomy, 2,247 (17.3%) were discharged to a skilled nursing facility. Compared with patients discharged home, patients discharged to a skilled nursing facility were older (median age: 72 [interquartile range 68-76] vs 76 [interquartile range 71-80]), more likely female (44.4% vs 56.8%), and had greater Charlson comorbidity index scores (median score: 3 [interquartile range 2-8] vs 4 [interquartile range 2-8]) (all P < .001). Most patients were discharged to an above-average skilled nursing facility (N = 1,463, 65.1%), and a lesser subset was discharged to a skilled nursing facility with a below-average (N = 490, 21.8%) or average (N = 294, 13.1%) star rating. The 30-day hospital readmission was greatest among patients discharged to a below-average skilled nursing facility (below average N = 217, 44.3%; average N = 110, 37.4%; above average N = 517, 35.3%; P = .002). On multivariate analysis, patients discharged to below-average skilled nursing facilities remained 64% more likely to be readmitted within 30 days (OR 1.64, 1.29-2.02, P < .001). In contrast, 30-day mortality was comparable across the skilled nursing facility star rating categories (P = .08). CONCLUSION: Roughly 1 in 6 patients undergoing pancreatic surgery were discharged to a skilled nursing facility. Patients discharged to a below-average skilled nursing facility were more likely to be readmitted compared with patients discharged to an above-average skilled nursing facility.

Challenges and Consequences of Reduced Skilled Nursing Facility Lengths of Stay.

OBJECTIVE: To identify the challenges that reductions in length of stay (LOS) pose for skilled nursing facilities (SNFs) and their postacute care (PAC) patients. DATA SOURCES/SETTING: Seventy interviews with staff in 25 SNFs in eight U.S. cities, LOS data for patients in those SNFs. STUDY DESIGN: Data were qualitatively analyzed, and key themes were identified. Interview data from SNFs with and without reductions in median risk-adjusted LOS were compared and contrasted. DATA COLLECTION/EXTRACTION METHODS: We conducted 70 semistructured interviews. LOS data were derived from minimum dataset (MDS) admission records available for all patients in all U.S. SNFs from 2012 to 2014. PRINCIPAL FINDINGS: Challenges reported regardless of reductions in LOS included frequent and more complicated re-authorization processes, patients becoming responsible for costs, and discharging patients whom staff felt were unsafe at home. Challenges related to reduced LOS included SNFs being pressured to discharge patients within certain time limits. Some SNFs reported instituting programs and processes for following up with patients after discharge. These programs helped alleviate concerns about patients, but they resulted in nonreimbursable costs for facilities. CONCLUSIONS: The push for shorter LOS has resulted in unexpected challenges and costs for SNFs and possible unintended consequences for PAC patients.

Effect of Obesity on Postacute Outcomes of Skilled Nursing Facility Residents with Hip Fracture.

OBJECTIVES: To examine the effect of obesity (body mass index (BMI)≥30.0 kg/m2 ) on outcomes of older adults admitted to skilled nursing facilities (SNFs) for hip fracture postacute care (PAC). DESIGN: Retrospective cohort study. SETTING: U.S. Medicare- and Medicaid-certified SNFs from 2008 to 2015. PARTICIPANTS: Medicare fee-for-service beneficiaries discharged to a SNF after hospitalization for hip fracture (N=586,683; n=82,768 (14.1%) meeting obesity criteria). Exclusion criteria were aged younger than 65, being underweight (BMI<18.5 kg/m2 ), and SNF use in the year prior to index hospitalization. MEASUREMENTS: Residents were divided into 4 BMI categories according to cutoffs that the World Health Organization has established: not obese (BMI 18.5-29.9 kg/m2 ), mild obesity (BMI 30.0-34.9 kg/m2 ), moderate obesity (BMI 35.0-39.9 kg/m2 ), and severe obesity (BMI≥40.0 kg/m2 ). Robust Poisson regression was used to compare differences in average nursing facility length of stay (LOS) and rates of 30-day hospital readmission, successful discharge to community, and becoming a long-stay resident (LOS>100) according to obesity level. Models were adjusted for individual-level covariates and facility fixed effects. RESULTS: Residents with mild (adjusted relative risk (aRR)=1.16, 95% CI=1.12-1.19), moderate (aRR=1.27, 95% CI=1.20-1.35), and severe (aRR=1.67, 95% CI=1.54-1.82) obesity were more likely to be readmitted within 30 days than those who were not obese. The average difference in LOS between residents without obesity and those with mild obesity was 2.6 days (95% CI=2.2-2.9 days); moderate obesity, 4.2 days (95% CI=3.7-5.1 days); and severe obesity, 7.0 days (95% CI=5.9-8.2 days). Residents with obesity were less likely to be successfully discharged and more likely to become long-stay nursing home residents. CONCLUSION: Obesity was associated with worse outcomes in postacute SNF residents with hip fracture. Efforts to provide targeted care to residents with obesity may be essential to improve outcomes. Obesity may be an overlooked risk adjuster in quality-of-care measures and in payment reforms related to PAC for individuals with hip fracture.

Screening for Functional Cognition in Postacute Care and the Improving Medicare Post-Acute Care Transformation (IMPACT) Act of 2014.

Occupational therapists have a long history of assessing functional cognition, defined as the ability to use and integrate thinking and performance skills to accomplish complex everyday activities. In response to passage of the Improving Medicare Post-Acute Care Transformation (IMPACT) Act of 2014 (Pub. L. 113-185), the American Occupational Therapy Association has been advocating that the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services consider functional cognition for inclusion in routine patient assessment in postacute care settings, with important implications for occupational therapy. These efforts have the potential to increase referrals to occupational therapy, emphasize the importance of addressing functional cognition in occupational therapy practice, and support the value of occupational therapy in achieving optimal postacute care outcomes.