The minimum data set depression quality indicator: does it reflect differences in care processes?

PURPOSE: The objective of this work was to determine if nursing homes that score differently on prevalence of depression, according to the Minimum Data Set (MDS) quality indicator, also provide different processes of care related to depression. DESIGN AND METHODS: A cross-sectional study with 396 long-term residents in 14 skilled nursing facilities was conducted: 10 homes in the lower (25th percentile: low prevalence 0-2%) quartile and 4 homes in the upper (75th percentile: high prevalence 12-14%) quartile on the MDS depression quality indicator. Ten care processes related to depression were defined and operationalized into clinical indicators. Measurement of nursing home staff implementation of each care process and the assessment of depressive symptoms were conducted by trained research staff during 3 consecutive 12-hr days (7 a.m. to 7 p.m.), which included resident interviews (Geriatric Depression Scale), direct observations, and medical record review using standardized protocols. RESULTS: The prevalence of depressive symptoms according to independent assessments was significantly higher than prevalence based on the MDS quality indicator and comparable between homes reporting low versus high rates of depression (46% and 41%, respectively). Documentation of depressive symptoms was significantly more common in homes reporting a high prevalence rate; however, documentation of symptoms on the MDS did not result in better treatment or management of depression according to any care-process measure. Psychosocial prevention and intervention efforts, such as resident participation in organized social group activities, were not widely used within either group of homes. IMPLICATIONS: The MDS depression quality indicator underestimates the prevalence of depressive symptoms in all homes but, in particular, among those reporting low or nonexistent rates. The indicator may be more reflective of measurement processes related to detection of symptoms than of prevention, intervention, or management of depression outcomes. A depression quality indicator should not be eliminated from MDS reports because of the importance and prevalence of the condition. However, efforts to improve nursing home staff detection of depressive symptoms should be initiated prior to the use of any MDS-based depression indicator for improvement purposes. Homes that report a low prevalence of depression according to the nationally publicized MDS quality indicator should not be regarded as providing better care.

Effects of an exercise and scheduled-toileting intervention on appetite and constipation in nursing home residents.

PURPOSE: To evaluate the effects of an exercise and scheduled-toileting intervention on appetite and constipation in nursing home (NH) residents. METHODS: A controlled, clinical intervention trial with 89 residents in two NHs. Research staff provided exercise and toileting assistance every two hours, four times per day, five days a week for 32 weeks. Oral food and fluid consumption during meals was measured at baseline, eight and 32 weeks. Bowel movement frequency was measured at baseline and 32 weeks. RESULTS: The intervention group showed significant improvements or maintenance across all measures of daily physical activity, functional performance, and strength compared to the control group. Participants in both groups consumed an average of approximately 55% of meals at all three time points (approximately 1100 calories/day) with no change over time in either group. There was also no change in the frequency of bowel movements in either group, which averaged less than one in two days for both groups; and, approximately one-half of all participants had no bowel movement in two days. CONCLUSIONS: An exercise and scheduled-toileting intervention alone is not sufficient to improve oral food and fluid consumption during meals and bowel movement frequency in NH residents.

Improving food intake in nursing home residents with feeding assistance: a staffing analysis.

BACKGROUND: Recommendations have been made to increase the number of nursing home (NH) staff available to provide feeding assistance during mealtime. There are, however, no specific data related to two critical variables necessary to estimate mealtime staffing needs: (1) How many residents are responsive to feeding assistance? (2) How much staff time is required to provide feeding assistance to these residents? The purpose of this study was to collect preliminary data relevant to these two issues. METHODS: Seventy-four residents in three NHs received a 2-day, or six-meal, trial of one-on-one feeding assistance. Total percentage (0% to 100%) of food and fluid consumed during mealtime was estimated across 3 days during usual NH care and 2 days during the intervention. The amount of time that staff spent providing assistance and type of assistance (i.e., frequency of verbal and physical prompts) was measured under each condition. RESULTS: One half (50%) of the participants significantly increased their oral food and fluid intake during mealtime. The intervention required significantly more staff time to implement (average of 38 minutes per resident/meal vs 9 minutes rendered by NH staff). CONCLUSIONS: The time required to implement the feeding assistance intervention greatly exceeded the time the nursing staff spent assisting residents in usual mealtime care conditions. These data suggest that it will almost certainly be necessary to both increase staffing levels and to organize staff better to produce higher quality feeding assistance during mealtimes.

The identification of residents capable of accurately describing daily care: implications for evaluating nursing home care quality.

PURPOSE: The goal of this study was to develop a method of identifying incontinent nursing home (NH) residents capable of providing accurate interview information about daily NH care. DESIGN AND METHODS: In 177 incontinent NH residents from four facilities, selected Minimum Data Set (MDS) ratings were compared with two standardized, performance-based, cognitive screening instruments to predict which residents could accurately answer questions concerning receipt of daily incontinence and mobility care practices. RESULTS: MDS ratings of activity of daily living performance and cognition significantly predicted residents' ability to accurately describe daily care practices. Performance-based measures of cognitive functioning did not outperform the MDS ratings. Selecting residents who scored two or more on four orientation items composing the MDS Recall subscale identified residents capable of accurately describing daily care practices with a sensitivity of 64% and a specificity of 75%. IMPLICATIONS: The MDS-based criteria identified are a promising, objective method for selecting incontinent NH residents for interview to verify the occurrence of specific daily care practices.

An intervention to increase fluid intake in nursing home residents: prompting and preference compliance.

OBJECTIVE: To evaluate a three-phase, behavioral intervention to improve fluid intake in nursing home (NH) residents. DESIGN: Controlled clinical intervention trial. SETTING: Two community NHs. PARTICIPANTS: Sixty-three incontinent NH residents. INTERVENTION: Participants were randomized into intervention and control groups. The intervention consisted of three phases for a total of 32 weeks: (1) 16 weeks of four verbal prompts to drink per day, in between meals; (2) 8 weeks of eight verbal prompts per day, in between meals; and (3) 8 weeks of eight verbal prompts per day, in between meals, plus compliance with participant beverage preferences. MEASUREMENTS: Between-meal fluid intake was measured in ounces by research staff during all three phases of the intervention. Percentage of fluids consumed during meals was also estimated by research staff for a total of nine meals per participant (3 consecutive days) at baseline and at 8 and 32 weeks into the intervention. Serum osmolality, blood urea nitrogen, and creatinine values were obtained for all participants in one of the two sites at the same three time points. RESULTS: The majority (78%) of participants increased their fluid intake between meals in response to the increase in verbal prompts (phase 1 to 2). A subset of residents (21%), however, only increased their fluid intake in response to beverage preference compliance (phase 3). There was a significant reduction in the proportion of intervention participants who had laboratory values indicative of dehydration compared with the control participants. Cognitive and nutritional status were predictive of residents' responsiveness to the intervention. CONCLUSIONS: A behavioral intervention that consists of verbal prompts and beverage preference compliance was effective in increasing fluid intake among most of a sample of incontinent NH residents. Verbal prompting alone was effective in improving fluid intake in the more cognitively impaired residents, whereas preference compliance was needed to increase fluid intake among less cognitively impaired NH residents.

Prompted voiding for nighttime incontinence in nursing homes: is it effective?

OBJECTIVES: To determine whether prompted voiding (PV) is effective for nighttime urinary incontinence in nursing home (NH) residents and whether residents who respond well to daytime PV also respond well at night. DESIGN: Prospective case series. SETTING: Four community NHs. PARTICIPANTS: Sixty-one long-stay incontinent NH residents of mean age 88 years, 75% female. MEASUREMENTS: The percentage of hourly checks for wetness and the appropriate toileting rate (continent voids divided by total voids) were measured during 3 days (7 a.m.-7 p.m.) of PV, and for an average of 5 nights (7 p.m.-7 a.m.), during which a modified PV protocol, designed to be minimally disruptive to sleep, was carried out. RESULTS: Fourteen residents (23%) responded well to daytime PV, with average wetness and appropriate toileting rates of 5% and 73%, respectively. In the group as a whole, nighttime PV was not effective, with wetness and appropriate toileting rates of 49% and 18%, respectively. Among those who responded well to daytime PV, wetness rates during nighttime PV remained significantly higher than during the day (24% vs. 5%; P = .000), and nighttime appropriate toileting rates were significantly lower (39% vs. 73%; P = .002). The poor response rate at night was primarily observed between 10 p.m. and 6 a.m. CONCLUSIONS: In this sample of incontinent NH residents, nighttime PV, even when carried out so as to minimize sleep disruption, was not an effective intervention. Although residents who responded well to daytime PV responded better to nighttime PV than those who did not respond to daytime PV, their wetness rates remained relatively high and their appropriate toileting rates were low. These data suggest that routine nighttime toileting programs should not be carried out for the majority of incontinent NH residents. Instead, individualized care based on resident's preferences, willingness to toilet at night, and sleep patterns should be emphasized.

Urinary incontinence treatment preferences in long-term care.

OBJECTIVE: To elicit preferences for different urinary incontinence (UI) treatments in long-term care (LTC) from groups likely to serve as proxy decision makers for LTC residents. DESIGN: A descriptive, comparative study of preference for UI treatments of frail older adults, family members of nursing home (NH) residents, and LTC nursing staff. Surveys were mailed to families and self-administered by staff. Older adults were interviewed. SETTING: Four LTC facilities and two residential-care facilities in Los Angeles. PARTICIPANTS: Four hundred and three family members of incontinent NH residents were mailed surveys. Sixty-six nursing staff caring for these incontinent residents and 79 older adult residents of care facilities (nine cognitively intact NH respondents and 70 residential care residents) answered surveys. MEASUREMENTS: Preference rankings between seven paired combinations of five different UI treatments were measured on an 11-point visual analog scale, with the verbal anchors "definitely prefer" this treatment, "probably prefer" this treatment, and "uncertain." Respondents gave open-ended comments as well. RESULTS: Forty-two percent of family members (171/ 403) returned the mailed survey. Of all respondents, 85% "definitely" or "probably" preferred diapers, and 77% "definitely" or "probably" preferred prompted voiding (PV) to indwelling catheterization. Respondent groups occasionally differed significantly in their preferences. In choosing between treatment pairs using a visual analogue scale, nurses preferred PV to diapers significantly more than did older adults or families (both of whom preferred diapers) (F (2,295) = 13.11, P < .0001). Older adults, compared with family and nurse respondents, showed a significantly stronger preference for medications over diapers (F (2,296) = 41.54, P < .0001). In open-ended responses, older adults stated that they would choose a UI treatment based in part upon criteria of feeling dry, being natural, not causing embarrassment, being easy, and not resulting in dependence. Nurses said that they would base their choice of UI treatment upon increasing self-esteem and avoiding infection. CONCLUSIONS: Although there was wide variation within and between groups about preferred UI treatment, most respondents preferred noninvasive strategies (diapers and PV) to invasive strategies (indwelling catheters and electrical stimulation). Older adults preferred to a greater degree medications and electrical stimulation, therapies directed at the underlying cause of UI. Despite data documenting that diapering is a less time intensive way to manage UI and that toileting programs are difficult to maintain in LTC, nurses viewed PV as "natural" and strongly preferred it to diapering. Several family members and older adults viewed PV as "embarrassing" and "fostering dependence." These data highlight the need to elicit preferences for UI treatment among LTC residents and their families.

Measurement sensitivity and the Minimum Data Set depression quality indicator.

PURPOSE: The purpose of this study was to determine the accuracy of the prevalence rating of depression in nursing homes as flagged on the Minimum Data Set (MDS) quality indicator report. DESIGN AND METHODS: Research Staff measured depression symptoms and compared the results with the prevalence of disturbed mood symptoms documented by nursing home (NH) staff on the MDS in two samples of residents living in different NHs. The homes had been flagged on the nationally mandated MDS quality indicator report as having unusually low (Site 1) or high (Site 2) prevalence rates of depression. RESULTS: The percentages of residents determined by research staff interview assessments to have probable depression in the two resident samples were not significantly different (49% vs. 55%, respectively) between homes. The staff in the home flagged on the MDS quality indicator report as having a high depression prevalence rate identified significantly more residents who also had scores indicative of probable depression on the resident interviews for follow-up mood assessments than did the home with a low quality indicator prevalence rate (78% vs. 25%, respectively). IMPLICATIONS: The prevalence of the depression quality indicator may be more reflective of measurement processes than of depression outcomes. Factors that may affect the difference in detection rates are discussed.

Distinct categories of immunologic changes in frail elderly.

Immune changes and their relationships in a frail elderly population (N=116, age 70-103, median 86 years) were defined in comparison to a healthy younger group. Previous immune studies in the elderly have generally focused on one or few parameters without correlation analyses. Furthermore, the study populations have been active elderly in relatively small numbers. A total of 33 immune parameters representing many aspects of the immune system were quantified. Most changes in the frail elderly were parallel to those reported in active elderly. A classification tree analysis revealed that increased plasma activation markers (neopterin and sTNF-R) and increased CD28 expression on CD8 T cells and proliferative response separated the aged and control populations. Statistical procedures utilizing principal components analyses, partial correlations and exploratory factor analyses all indicated that immunologic parameters in frail elderly are grouped in three major clusters of immunologic results. These involved (a) increased plasma levels of neopterin and sTNF receptor indicating elevated IFNgamma and TNF cytokine activity; (b) increased proportion of mature (CD45RO) versus naïve (CD45RA) T cells; and (c) a diverse group of related changes including impaired proliferative response, reduced T cells, CD28 and CD25 expression, B cell percentage and lower CD4:CD8 ratios and increased HLA-DR expression. These findings emphasize that several different groups of immune parameters but not 33 independent immune changes, occurred in the aged population.

Selecting target conditions for quality of care improvement in vulnerable older adults.

OBJECTIVE: To identify a set of geriatric conditions as optimal targets for quality improvement to be used in a quality measurement system for vulnerable older adults. DESIGN: Discussion and two rounds of ranking of conditions by a panel of geriatric clinical experts informed by literature reviews. METHODS: A list of 78 conditions common among vulnerable older people was reduced to 35 on the basis of their (1) prevalence, (2) impact on health and quality of life, (3) effectiveness of interventions in improving mortality and quality of life, (4) disparity in the quality of care across providers and geographic areas, and (5) feasibility of obtaining the data needed to test compliance with quality indicators. A panel of 12 experts in geriatric care discussed and then ranked the 35 conditions on the basis of the same five criteria. We then selected 21 conditions, based on panelists' iterative rankings. Using available national data, we compiled information about prevalence of the selected conditions for community-dwelling older people and older nursing home residents and estimated the proportion of inpatient and outpatient care attributable to the selected conditions. RESULTS: The 21 conditions selected as targets for quality improvement among vulnerable older adults include (in rank order): pharmacologic management; depression; dementia; heart failure; stroke (and atrial fibrillation); hospitalization and surgery; falls and mobility disorders; diabetes mellitus; end-of-life care; ischemic heart disease; hypertension; pressure ulcers; osteoporosis; urinary incontinence; pain management; preventive services; hearing impairment; pneumonia and influenza; vision impairment; malnutrition; and osteoarthritis. The selected conditions had mean rank scores from 1.2 to 3.8, and those excluded from 4.6 to 6.9, on a scale from 1 (highest ranking) to 7 (lowest ranking). Prevalence of the selected conditions ranges from 10 to 50% among community-dwelling older adults and from 25 to 80% in nursing home residents for the six most common selected conditions. The 21 target conditions account for at least 43% of all acute hospital discharges and 33% of physician office visits among persons 65 years of age and older. Actual figures must be higher because several of the selected conditions (e.g., end-of-life care) are not recorded as diagnoses. CONCLUSIONS: Twenty-one conditions were selected as targets for quality improvement in vulnerable older people for use in a quality measurement system. The 21 geriatric conditions selected are highly prevalent in this group and likely account for more than half of the care provided to this group in hospital and ambulatory settings.

The use of the neuropsychiatric inventory in nursing home residents. Characterization and measurement.

The authors assessed the validity of the nursing home version of the Neuropsychiatric Inventory-Nursing Home Version (NPI-NH), comparing the responses of certified nurses' aides (CNAs) and licensed vocational nurses (LVNs) with research observations. Correlations were significant but moderate for all of the domains of the NPI-NH (delusions, hallucinations, agitation/aggression, depression, apathy, disinhibition, euphoria, irritability/lability, and aberrant motor disturbances) except anxiety and appetite disturbance. The LVNs' ratings showed consistently higher correlations with the researchers' behavioral observations than did the CNAs', but were moderate and generally better for residents with high levels of neuropsychiatric symptoms, thus, caution should be used with any untrained rater in the nursing home setting. The NPI-NH used by non-research staff can be useful in identifying residents with significant neuropsychiatric disturbances, but may be limited as an instrument for tracking behavioral changes.

A conceptual framework for achieving high-quality care in nursing homes.

Nursing home care accounts for 12% of healthcare expenditures in the United States, yet serious concerns remain about the quality of care provided in these settings. This article describes a comprehensive systems model that views organizational environments as consisting of four interacting dimensions: organizing arrangements, social factors, technology, and physical setting. This model is then used as a conceptual framework (vis-à-vis an extensive literature review) to identify factors that contribute to poor-quality care in nursing homes and to highlight previous research efforts. The literature review also provides a useful framework to guide nursing home administrators and healthcare quality professionals in their implementation of quality improvement processes and serves to help direct future research in this very important arena.

Strategies to measure nursing home residents' satisfaction and preferences related to incontinence and mobility care: implications for evaluating intervention effects.

This study compared four different interview strategies to measure 111 incontinent nursing home residents' "met need" related to incontinence and mobility care. Strategies were compared on criteria related to ceiling effects and stability. Four methods were used: questions that used the term "satisfaction" and direct questions about preferences that did not use the term "satisfaction" and which could be translated into three indirect measures of met need. To facilitate a comparison among the four methods, a statement of satisfaction was interpreted as met need. All of these measures were then compared to direct observations of care processes. Residents were more stable in their reports indicating that their care needs were met than they were in their reports that their needs were not met. The direct satisfaction questions produced information most characterized by ceiling effects compared to information elicited by the preference questions. Despite high reported rates of met need as assessed by two of the four methods, direct observations revealed low frequencies of care provision.

A randomized trial of a combined physical activity and environmental intervention in nursing home residents: do sleep and agitation improve?

OBJECTIVES: The purpose of this study was to test whether an intervention combining increased daytime physical activity with improvement in the nighttime environment improves sleep and decreases agitation in nursing home residents. DESIGN: A randomized trial. SETTING: One community nursing home in the Los Angeles, California area. PARTICIPANTS: Twenty-nine incontinent residents (mean age 88.3 years, 90% female). INTERVENTION: Subjects were randomized to receive either (1) an intervention combining increased daytime physical activity (14 weeks in duration) plus a nighttime program (5 nights in duration) to decrease noise and sleep-disruptive nursing care practices (intervention group), or (2) the nighttime program alone (control group). MEASUREMENTS: Daytime physical activity monitors and structured physical function assessments; nighttime wrist activity monitors to estimate nighttime sleep; and timed daytime behavioral observations of sleep versus wakefulness, either in or out of bed, and agitation. RESULTS: Physical function measures did not change significantly (MANOVA for repeated measures, group by time effect). Wrist actigraphy estimation of nighttime percent sleep (time asleep over time monitored in bed at night) increased in intervention subjects from 51.7% at baseline to 62.5% at follow-up compared with 67.0% at baseline to 66.3% at follow-up in controls (MANOVA, group by time, F = 4.42, P = .045, df = 27). At follow-up, intervention subjects averaged a 32% decrease in the percent of daytime observations in bed compared with baseline, with essentially no change in controls (MANOVA, group by time, F = 5.31, P = .029, df = 27). Seven of 15 intervention subjects had a decrease in observed agitation at follow-up, compared with baseline, versus only 1 of 14 controls with a decrease in observed agitation. CONCLUSIONS: This study provides preliminary evidence that an intervention combining increased physical activity with improvement in the nighttime nursing home environment improves sleep and decreases agitation in nursing home residents.

Objective and subjective measures of the quality of managed care in nursing homes.

BACKGROUND: The number of nursing home (NH) residents enrolled in managed care plans (HMO) will increase, and there is concern that the quality of their medical care may be compromised by cost-containment pressures. In this study, we evaluated the medical care of residents enrolled in 3 health maintenance organizations (HMO) that developed specific long-term care programs. OBJECTIVES: To compare the medical care received by NH residents enrolled in HMO and Fee-for-Service (FFS) plans with both objective process of care and consumer perception (subjective) measures. To describe the relationship between the objective and subjective measures. MEASURES: Number of primary care visits per month; process of medical care for 2 geriatric tracer conditions (falls, fevers); family and residents' perceptions of the adequacy of sickness episode management; and the frequency of primary provider visits. DESIGN: Quasi-experimental. RESULTS: HMO residents received more timely and appropriate responses to falls and fevers than did FFS residents. HMO residents also received more frequent routine visits by a primary care provider team consisting of a physician and nurse practitioner. Consumer perceptions of quality did not differ between the HMO and FFS groups. Families within both groups were significantly more positive than were residents about the frequency of visits by both physicians and nurse practitioners. Within the HMO group, both families and residents were more positive about the frequency of nurse practitioner visits than were physician visits even when the frequency of visits by the 2 providers were similar. CONCLUSIONS: Although the medical care received by HMO residents was better on most objective process measures than that received by FFS residents, consumer perceptions of care did not detect those differences. NH residents and families have different perceptions about the adequacy of visits by physicians and nurse practitioners, and both families and residents appear to have different expectations concerning how often they want physicians to visit as compared with nurse practitioners.

The nursing home at night: effects of an intervention on noise, light, and sleep.

OBJECTIVES: The sleep of nursing home residents is fragmented by frequent awakening episodes associated, at least in part, with environmental variables, including noise and light changes. The purpose of this study was to improve sleep by reducing the frequency of nighttime noise and light changes. PARTICIPANTS AND SETTING: Two hundred sixty-seven incontinent nursing home residents in eight nursing homes. DESIGN: A randomized control group design with a delayed intervention for the control group. MEASUREMENTS: Bedside noise and light monitors recorded the number of 2-minute intervals at night with peak sounds recorded above 50 dBs and the number of light changes of at least 10 lux between adjacent 2-minute intervals. Daytime behavioral observations measured sleep and in-bed time during the day, and wrist activity was used to estimate sleep at night. Awakening events associated with the environmental variables were derived from the wrist activity data. INTERVENTION: A behavioral intervention implemented between 7:00 p.m. and 6:00 a.m. that involved feedback to nursing home staff about noise levels and implementation by research staff of procedures to both abate noise (e.g., turn off unwatched television sets) and to individualize nighttime incontinence care routines to be less disruptive to sleep. RESULTS: Noise was reduced significantly, from an average of 83 intervals per night with peak noises recorded above 50 dBs to an average of 58 intervals per night in the group that received the initial intervention, whereas noise in the control group showed no change (MANOVA group x time P < .001). All 10-dB categories of noise from 50 to 90+ dBs were reduced, and light changes were reduced from an average of four per night per resident to two per night (P < .001). Despite these significant changes in the environmental variables, there was a significant differential improvement in the intervention group on only two night sleep measures: awakening associated with a combination of noise plus light (P < .001) and awakening associated with light (P < .001). However, there was a significant correlation between change in noise and change in percent sleep from baseline to intervention (r = -.29, P < .05), suggesting that the intervention did not reduce noise to low enough levels to produce a significant improvement in sleep. The intervention effects on all environmental variables were replicated in the delayed intervention group, who again showed significant improvement on the same sleep measures. Observations of day sleep and in-bed time did not change over the phases of the trial for either group. CONCLUSION: The significant reductions in noise and light events resulting from the intervention did not lead to significant improvements in the day sleep and most night sleep measures. An intervention that combines both behavioral and environmental strategies and that addresses daytime behavioral factors associated with poor sleep (e.g., excessive time in bed) would potentially be more effective in improving the night sleep and quality of life of nursing home residents.

Primary care of long-stay nursing home residents: approaches of three health maintenance organizations.

OBJECTIVE: To describe the innovative programs of three health maintenance organizations (HMOs) for providing primary care for long-stay nursing home (NH) residents and to compare this care with that of fee-for-service (FFS) residents at the same NHs. DESIGN: Cross-sectional interviews and case-studies, including retrospective chart reviews for 1 year. SETTING: The programs were based in 20 community-based nursing homes in three regions (East, West, Far West). PARTICIPANTS: Administrative and professional staff of HMOs in three regions and 20 NHs; 215 HMO and 187 FFS residents at these homes were studied. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: Emergency department (ED) and hospital utilization. RESULTS: All HMO programs utilized nurse practitioner/physician's assistants (NP/PA), but the structural configuration of physicians' (MD) practices differed substantially. At nursing homes within each region, all three HMO programs provided more total (MD plus NP/PA) visits per month than did FFS care (2.0 vs 1.1, 1.3 vs .6, and 1.4 vs .8 visits per month; all P < .05). The HMO that provided the most total visits had a significantly lower percentage of residents transferred to EDs (6% vs 16%, P = .048), fewer ED visits per resident (0.1 vs .4 per year, P = .027), and fewer hospitalizations per resident (0.1 vs .5 per year, P = .038) than FFS residents; these differences remained significant in multivariate analyses. However, the other two programs did not achieve the same benefits on healthcare utilization. CONCLUSIONS: HMO programs for NH residents provide more primary care and have the potential to reduce ED and hospital use compared with FFS care. However, not all programs have been associated with decreased ED and hospital utilization, perhaps because of differences in structure or implementation problems.

Life-sustaining treatment decisions for nursing home residents: who discusses, who decides and what is decided?

OBJECTIVE: To evaluate whether nursing home residents and their families reported discussions about life-sustaining treatment with their physicians, the relationship between such discussions and orders to limit therapy, and predictors of physician-patient communication about life-sustaining treatment. DESIGN: Cross-sectional interviews and retrospective chart abstraction. SETTING: Three regions: West Coast, New England, Western. SAMPLE: A total of 413 nursing home residents, 363 family/surrogate interviews, and 192 resident interviews. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: Measured were (1) physician-resident communication about life-sustaining treatment and (2) presence of an advance directive or do not resuscitate (DNR) order in resident's chart. RESULTS: Seventy-four percent of residents had DNR orders, and 32% had advance directives; only 29% of residents reported discussions about life-sustaining treatment. Of residents with DNR orders who could have participated in discussions about life-sustaining treatment, nearly half reported they had not discussed CPR with their caregivers. Older age, longer duration of time living in nursing home, location in a New England nursing home, physician-family member discussion, and the presence of an advance directive in the medical chart were positively associated with having DNR orders. Physician-resident discussion was not associated with having a DNR order. For the subsample of interviewed residents, age and a diagnosis of cognitive impairment were negatively associated with a physician-resident discussion about life-sustaining treatment, whereas the likelihood of having a discussion increased with increasing numbers of medical diagnoses. CONCLUSIONS: Chart orders to limit therapy are common, but physician-resident discussions about life-sustaining treatments are not. Far more family members than residents report such discussions with the resident's physicians.