Is Skilled Nursing Facility Financial Status Related to Readmission Rate Improvement?

GOAL: We examined whether higher skilled nursing facility (SNF) lagged profitability is associated with a lower 30-day all-cause all-payer risk-adjusted hospital readmission rate. Our aim was to provide insight into whether SNFs with limited financial resources are able to respond to incentives to lower their readmission rates to hospitals. METHODS: We used data from 2012-2016 to estimate a fixed effects (FE) model with a time trend. Our data included financial data from the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services Healthcare Cost Report Information System SNF cost reports, facility characteristics including the all-cause all-payer risk-adjusted unplanned 30-day readmission rate from the LTCFocus (Long-Term Care Focus) project at Brown University, and county-level market variables from the Area Health Resource File. We also examined the relationship for a shorter time frame (2012-2015) after stratifying the sample by system membership or ownership. PRINCIPAL FINDINGS: SNFs with an increase in the lagged operating margin showed a statistically significant, small decrease (<.01 percentage point) in the risk-adjusted readmission rate. The results were robust for different time periods and model specifications. Fixed effects model estimates for SNFs in the highest quartile of percentage of Medicaid patients (≥73.9%) had a lagged operating margin coefficient that is almost four times as large as the coefficient of the FE model with all SNFs. APPLICATION TO PRACTICE: SNFs have an important role in achieving the national priority of reducing hospital readmissions. The study findings suggest that managers of SNFs should not see low profitability as an obstacle to reducing readmission rates, which is good news given the low average profitability of SNFs. Further, reductions in profitability due to penalties incurred from the recently implemented Medicare Skilled Nursing Facility Value-Based Purchasing Program may not limit SNFs' ability to lower hospital readmission rates, at least initially. However, policymakers may need to determine whether additional resources to high Medicaid SNFs can lower readmission rates for these SNFs.

Hospital Performance in the First 6 Years of Medicare's Value-Based Purchasing Program.

The Medicare value-based purchasing (VBP) program, ongoing since 2013, uses financial bonuses and penalties to incentivize hospital quality improvements. Previous research has identified characteristics of penalized hospitals, but has not examined characteristics of hospitals with improvements in VBP program performance or consistent good performance. We identify five different trajectories of program performance (improvement, decline, consistent good or poor performance, mixed). A total of 11% of hospitals were penalized every year of the program, 24% improved their VBP program performance, 14% of hospitals consistently earned a bonus, while 18% performed well in the program's early years but experienced declines in performance. In 2013, organizational and community characteristics were associated with higher odds of improving relative to performing poorly every year. Few variables under managers' control were associated with program improvement, though accountable care organization participation was in some models. We find changes in VBP program metrics may have contributed to improvement in some hospitals' program scores.

Urban-Rural Differences in Skilled Nursing Facility Rehospitalization Rates.

OBJECTIVES: To examine the association of rurality with skilled nursing facility (SNF) all-cause 30-day risk-adjusted rehospitalization rates. DESIGN: Cross-sectional study combining Center for Medicare and Medicaid Services Nursing Home Compare (CMS-NHC) website for 30-day risk-adjusted rehospitalization rates for 2014-2015 with SNF organizational and community variables. PARTICIPANTS: 12,261 non-hospital based skilled nursing facilities in the US. MEASUREMENTS: We estimated a multiple linear regression model of percentage all-cause unplanned risk-adjusted rehospitalization rate within 30 days after a hospital discharge and admission to the SNF averaged over the third and fourth quarters of 2014 and the first and second quarters of 2015. The model uses robust standard errors. RESULTS: After controlling for community- and SNF-level resources, the risk-adjusted rehospitalization rates for SNFs are lowest in rural areas and large rural towns followed by SNFs in suburban and then urban areas. CONCLUSION: The rural culture that includes a strong sense of connectedness among residents may contribute to lower SNF rehospitalization rates. Our results suggest that rural SNFs may avoid future reimbursement penalties and decreased admissions from patients discharged from hospitals because of their lower rehospitalizaton rates. However, because this is the first study to address this topic, additional research is needed.

Glomerular Proteinuria Predicts the Severity of Acute Kidney Injury in Puumala Hantavirus-Induced Tubulointerstitial Nephritis.

BACKGROUND: Puumala virus (PUUV)-induced hemorrhagic fever with renal syndrome is common in many European countries. The typical renal histologic lesion is acute tubulointerstitial nephritis. We examined the type and kinetics of urine protein excretion and prognostic significance of proteinuria for the severity of acute kidney injury (AKI) in acute PUUV infection. METHODS: The amount of dipstick albuminuria at hospital admission was analyzed in 205 patients with acute PUUV infection. Dipstick albuminuria at admission was graded into 3 categories: 0-1+, 2+, and 3+. In 70 patients, 24-h urinary excretion of protein, overnight urinary excretion of albumin, immunoglobulin (Ig) G, and α1-microglobulin also were measured over 3 consecutive days during the hospital stay. RESULTS: Maximum median daily proteinuria, overnight albuminuria, and IgG excretion were observed over 5 days, while that of creatinine values was observed 9 days after the onset of the disease. The medians of maximum plasma creatinine levels during hospital stay were different in the 3 categories of dipstick albuminuria: 0-1+: 98 µmol/L (58-1,499), 2+: 139 µmol/L (71-829), and 3+: 363 µmol/L (51-1,285; p < 0.001). Dipstick albuminuria ≥2+ at admission could be detected in 89% of the patients who subsequently developed severe AKI. Glomerular proteinuria, but not tubular proteinuria (α1-microglobulin), correlated with the severity of the emerging AKI. CONCLUSION: In acute PUUV infection, maximum median proteinuria values preceded the most severe phase of AKI by a few days. A highly useful finding for clinical work was that a quick and simple albuminuria dipstick test at hospital admission predicted the severity of the upcoming AKI.

Does Assisted Living Capacity Influence Case Mix at Nursing Homes?

Assisted living facilities (ALFs) have grown over the past few decades. If they attract residents with lower care needs away from nursing homes (NHs), NHs may be left with higher case mix residents. We study the relationship between ALF bed market capacity and NH case mix in a state (Virginia) where ALF bed capacity stabilized after a period of growth. Similarly, NH capacity and use had been stable. While it is interesting to study markets in flux, for planning purposes, it is also important to examine what happens after periods of turbulence and adaptation. Our findings show some substitution of ALF for NH care, but the relationship is not linear with ALF market capacity. Communities need to consider the interplay of ALFs and NHs in planning for long-term care services and supports. Policies supporting ALFs may enable care needs to be met in a lower cost setting than the NH.

The experiences of Massachusetts hospitals as statewide health insurance reform was implemented.

Hospitals treat many uninsured patients and shoulder substantial amounts of uncompensated care. Health reform as implemented in Massachusetts, then, would be expected to bode well for hospitals as many people obtain coverage from private and public programs. We examined changes in Massachusetts hospital payer mix, unreimbursed costs of care for the uninsured and those in means-tested public programs, and overall financial condition for the period 2004 to 2010. Despite increases in coverage, unreimbursed costs for the uninsured and those in means-tested government programs did not decrease appreciably for Massachusetts hospitals over the study period. Major safety-net hospitals, which play a substantial role in serving the uninsured and Medicaid, had some initial easing of this burden but their financial situation weakened through 2010. The U.S. economic recession and Massachusetts budget pressures, which in part resulted from reform implementation, likely offset advantages hospitals experienced from reductions in the uninsured. Our analysis suggests that state actions in Massachusetts to change payment programs that the two major safety net hospitals relied on to support indigent care contributed to their financial difficulties.

Hospital philanthropy.

It remains an open question whether hospital spending on fundraising efforts to garner philanthropy is a good use of funds. Research and industry reports provide conflicting results. We describe the accounting and data challenges in analysis of hospital philanthropy, which include measurement of donations, measurement of fundraising expenses, and finding the relationships among organizations where these cash flows occur. With these challenges, finding conflicting results is not a surprise.

Nursing home price and quality responses to publicly reported quality information.

OBJECTIVE: To assess whether the release of Nursing Home Compare (NHC) data affected self-pay per diem prices and quality of care. DATA SOURCES: Primary data sources are the Annual Survey of Wisconsin Nursing Homes for 2001-2003, Online Survey and Certification Reporting System, NHC, and Area Resource File. STUDY DESIGN: We estimated fixed effects models with robust standard errors of per diem self-pay charge and quality before and after NHC. PRINCIPAL FINDINGS: After NHC, low-quality nursing homes raised their prices by a small but significant amount and decreased their use of restraints but did not reduce pressure sores. Mid-level and high-quality nursing homes did not significantly increase self-pay prices after NHC nor consistently change quality. CONCLUSIONS: Our findings suggest that the release of quality information affected nursing home behavior, especially pricing and quality decisions among low-quality facilities. Policy makers should continue to monitor quality and prices for self-pay residents and scrutinize low-quality homes over time to see whether they are on a pathway to improve quality. In addition, policy makers should not expect public reporting to result in quick fixes to nursing home quality problems.

Is quality of cardiac hospital care a public or private good?

BACKGROUND: There are many studies examining the effects of financial pressure from different payment sources on hospital quality of care, but most have assumed that quality of care is a public good in that payment changes from one payer will affect all hospital patients rather than just those directly associated with the payer. Although quality of hospital care can be either a public or private good, few studies have tested which of these scenarios are more likely to hold. OBJECTIVES: To examine whether the change in the magnitude of in-hospital mortality for Medicare and managed care patients is different based on financial pressure resulting from the Balanced Budget Act and growing managed care market penetration; and to examine what role hospital competition may play in affecting these changes. DATA AND METHODS: The unit of analysis for the study was the hospital. Multiple data sources were used including the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality State Inpatient Databases, American Hospital Association Annual Surveys, Area Resource File, and health maintenance organization data from InterStudy. A difference-in-difference-in-difference model was applied for a 2-period panel design. RESULTS: In general, Balanced Budget Act financial pressure and managed care market share did not magnify the difference in in-hospital mortality rates between Medicare and managed care patients. The results suggest that quality of cardiac care in the hospital setting is more likely to be a public good; however, more investigation using other quality indicators and the role of hospital competition under different payment systems is recommended.

Community benefit activities of private, nonprofit hospitals.

The definition of hospital community benefits has been intensely debated for many years. Recently, consensus has developed about one group of activities being central to community benefits because of its focus on care for the poor and on needed community services for which any payments received are low relative to costs. Disagreements continue, however, about the treatment of bad debt expense and Medicare shortfalls. A recent revision of the Internal Revenue Service's Form 990 Schedule H, which is required of all nonprofit hospitals, highlights the agreed-on set of activities but does not dismiss the disputed items. Our study is the first to apply definitions used in the new IRS form to assess how conclusions about the adequacy of nonprofit hospital community benefits could be affected if bad debt expenses and Medicare shortfalls are included or excluded. Specifically, we examine 2005 financial data for California and Florida hospitals. Overall, we find that conclusions about community benefit adequacy are very different depending on which definition of community benefits is used. We provide thoughts on new directions for the current policy debate about the treatment of bad debts and Medicare shortfalls in light of these findings.

Organizational characteristics and cancer care for nursing home residents.

OBJECTIVE: We evaluate whether organization, market, policy, and resident characteristics are related to cancer care processes and outcomes for dually eligible residents of Michigan nursing homes who entered facilities without a cancer diagnosis but subsequently developed the disease. DATA SOURCES/STUDY DESIGN/DATA COLLECTION: Using data from the Michigan Tumor Registry (1997-2000), Medicare claims, Medicaid cost reports, and the Area Resource File, we estimate logistic regression models of diagnosis at or during the month of death and receipt of pain medication during the month of or month after diagnosis. PRINCIPAL FINDINGS: Approximately 25 percent of the residents were diagnosed at or near death. Only 61 percent of residents diagnosed with late or unstaged cancer received pain medication during the diagnosis month or the following month. Residents in nursing homes with lower staffing and in counties with fewer hospital beds were more likely to be diagnosed at death. After the Balanced Budget Act (BBA), residents were more likely to be diagnosed at death. CONCLUSIONS: Nursing home characteristics and community resources are significantly related to the cancer care residents receive. The BBA was associated with an increased likelihood of later diagnosis of cancer.

Hospital staffing decisions: does financial performance matter?

This study assesses the impact of changes in hospitals' financial conditions on changes in hospitals' staffing decisions. The sample consisted of community hospitals operating between 1995 and 2000. The analysis employed a generalized method of moments (GMM) estimator for its dynamic panel data. Cash flow and patient margin were used to measure financial condition. We estimated the effect of changing financial condition on the number of full-time equivalent personnel (FTEs), registered nurses (RNs), and licensed practical nurses (LPNs) per 1,000 adjusted patient days. Our results suggest that declining financial performance led to cutbacks in LPN FTEs per adjusted patient day, but the effects on total hospital FTEs and RN FTEs were mixed.

Is more better? An analysis of hospital outcomes and efficiency with a DEA model of output congestion.

This paper applies a new methodology to the study of hospital efficiency and quality of care. Using a data set of hospitals from several states, we jointly evaluate desirable hospital patient care output (e.g., patient stays) and the simultaneous undesirable output (e.g., risk-adjusted patient mortality) that occurs. With a DEA based approach under two different sets of assumptions, we are able to include multiple quality indicators as outputs. The results show that lower technical efficiency is associated with poorer risk-adjusted quality outcomes in the study hospitals. They are consistent with other studies linking poor quality outcomes to higher cost.

Absence of cancer diagnosis and treatment in elderly Medicaid-insured nursing home residents.

BACKGROUND: Little is known about the effect cancer has on the lives of nursing home patients and the quality of care, including palliative care, delivered to them. METHODS: Using a statewide population-based dataset assembled from the Michigan Tumor Registry and Medicare records, we identified 1907 elderly Medicaid-insured nursing home residents who were diagnosed with cancer between 1997 and 2000. Logistic regression models were used to estimate odds ratios (ORs) and relative risks (RRs) according to age, race, sex, income, comorbidity, and cancer site for late or unstaged cancer at diagnosis, death within 3 months of diagnosis, receipt of hospice care, and--for patients diagnosed with early-stage breast, colorectal, lung, or prostate cancer--the likelihood of cancer-directed surgery. All statistical tests were two-sided. RESULTS: Nursing home residents diagnosed with cancer had a preponderance of late or unstaged disease (62%), high mortality within 3 months of diagnosis (48%), and low hospice use if they had distant-stage cancer (28%). Only 22% received cancer-directed surgery, 61% of which was confined to breast cancer patients, and only 6% of patients received chemotherapy and/or radiation. Older age was positively associated with late or unstaged cancer and with death within 3 months of diagnosis. Patients aged 71-75 years were more likely to have cancer-directed surgery than patients aged 86 years and older (OR = 2.83, 95% confidence interval [CI] = 1.26 to 6.32; RR = 1.37, 95% CI = 1.08 to 1.75). African American patients were less likely to receive surgery (OR = 0.51, 95% CI = 0.26 to 0.99; RR = 0.80, 95% CI = 0.62 to 1.03) than white patients. Other demographic characteristics and comorbid conditions had little predictive value with regard to cancer treatment or hospice use in nursing home patients. CONCLUSIONS: Very few cancer services are provided to Medicaid-insured nursing home patients, despite the fact that many of these patients likely experienced cancer-related symptoms and marked physical decline before diagnosis and death. A middle ground between what would be considered guideline treatment practices and the apparent absence of diagnosis and treatment is needed.

Hospital financial condition and operational decisions related to the quality of hospital care.

Financial pressure mounted for hospitals nationwide during the late 1990s. Our study examines how this affected the quality of their operations in terms of organizational infrastructure and processes that support the delivery of care. Our sample consisted of community hospitals operating between 1995 and 2000. Financial pressure was measured based on changes in net patient revenues per adjusted patient day and the ratio of cash flow to total revenues. The authors examined effects on hospital investments in plant and equipment and on hospital standards compliance with selected Joint Commission on Accreditation of Healthcare Organization performance areas. The results suggest that increasing financial pressures did lead to cutbacks in these areas. These findings suggest the importance of looking broadly across hospital operations to identify factors that may contribute to poor patient outcomes. Given the findings of earlier studies, these results suggest that poor outcomes may in part result from deterioration in supporting infrastructure and organizational processes.

Does the patient's payer matter in hospital patient safety?: a study of urban hospitals.

BACKGROUND: Previous studies have documented that hospitals decrease costs in response to reimbursement cutbacks. However, research concerning how this may affect quality of care has produced mixed results. Until recently, the ability to study changes in patient safety and payment has been limited. OBJECTIVE: The objective of the study was to determine whether changes in 4 hospital patient safety indicator (PSI) rates are related to changes in the generosity of payers over time. DATA AND METHODS: Study data are drawn from 1995-2000 hospital discharges in 11 states in the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality Healthcare Cost and Utilization Project State Inpatient Database. Following the same organizations over time, we estimate hospital fixed-effects regression models of the association of payer-specific time and post Balanced Budget Act (BBA) payment changes with risk-adjusted hospital PSI rates controlling for patient, organizational, and market characteristics. Four PSIs relevant to a large number of patients and hospitals that reflect general care processes are studied. RESULTS: The time trend during 1995-2000 is consistently significantly positive for private and Medicare hospital PSI rates. Thus, after controlling for patient characteristics and organizational and market factors, performance worsened. The trend is less consistent for Medicaid and does not exist for self-pay hospital PSI rates. After adjusting for multiple comparisons, we also find that the Medicare trend is fairly consistently higher than that of the other payers. In contrast, there is a less consistent BBA effect, especially for Medicare.

Are consumers reshaping hospitals? Complementary and alternative medicine in U.S. Hospitals, 1999-2003.

All types of acute care hospitals across the U.S. are becoming increasingly involved in offering CAM services. Hospitals appear to be responding to consumer demand, CAM specific market forces, and their organizational missions but not to regulatory mandates.

Did the strong get stronger and the weak get weaker? Examining changes in hospital financial condition.

In the late 1990s and early 2000s, many industry observers expressed the view that there was a growing dichotomy in the hospital industry in which financially weak hospitals were getting weaker and financially strong hospitals were getting stronger. Although existing analysis of cross-sectional financial data concur with this view, our analysis of 1993 to 2000 longitudinal data provides only partial support. We find that about one half of general acute care hospitals classified as financially strong in 1993-95 continued to be strong in 1998-00. More persistence was found for hospitals in weak financial position in 1993-95 with about 60 to 70 percent of them continuing to be weak in 1998-00. Persistently weak hospitals did experience deteriorating financial condition whereas persistently strong hospitals appeared at best to hold their ground financially. Although many Medicare payment policies appear well-targeted to hospitals that would otherwise have financial problems (for example, isolated rural institutions and teaching hospitals), policymakers may need to consider the development of temporary loan or grant programs to assist hospitals that experience transitory financial problems during difficult times.

Hantavirus.

When hantaviruses hit the headlines with the advent in May 1993 of a new disease in the USA, and later in the New World from Canada to south Argentina, called "hantavirus pulmonary syndrome" (HPS), speculations in the lay press rose from the very beginning around the possibilities of a biological warfare (BW) weapon. Indeed, the responsible agent of HPS, hantavirus, was almost unknown at that moment in the New World, was airborne, seemed to target preferentially young adults, and induced a devastating cardio-pulmonary collapse with a high case-fatality rate (50%), often within hours. It quickly became clear, however, that the same scourge had been known for many years in the Old World under different and mostly milder presentations. With the rapidly increasing knowledge about hantaviruses, it also became clear that they lack many of the potentials of an "ideal" BW weapon, as will be explained in this paper.