Project description:To test for an association between traditional nursing home quality measures and two sources of resident- and caregiver-derived nursing home complaints.Nursing home complaints to the North Carolina Long-Term Care Ombudsman Program and state certification agency from October 2002 through September 2006 were matched with Online Survey Certification and Reporting data and Minimum Data Set Quality Indicators (MDS-QIs).We examine the association between the number of complaints filed against a facility and measures of inspection violations, staffing levels, and MDS-QIs.One observation per facility per quarter is constructed by matching quarterly data on complaints to OSCAR data from the same or most recent prior quarter and to MDS-QIs from the same quarter. One observation per inspection is obtained by matching OSCAR data to complaint totals from both the same and the immediate prior quarter.There is little relationship between MDS-QIs and complaints. Ombudsman complaints and inspection violations are generally unrelated, but there is a positive relationship between state certification agency complaints and inspection violations.Ombudsman and state certification agency complaint data are resident- and caregiver-derived quality measures that are distinctive from and complement traditional quality measures.
Project description:BACKGROUND:Elevated Staphylococcus aureus and oral bacterial concentrations are known to correlate with pneumonia hospitalization in nursing home residents. However, the effects of a professional oral care intervention on these factors remain unclear. The aims of this quasi-experimental study were to compare bacterial concentrations in saliva and sputum, oral health status, distribution of Staphylococcus aureus, and pneumonia status before and after a professional oral care intervention. METHODS:A purposive sample of residents from two nursing homes was divided into an intervention group that received a weekly professional oral care intervention and a control group. Oral bacterial concentration was determined by real-time polymerase chain reaction. The Staphylococcus aureus distribution was determined by bacterial culture and matrix-assisted laser desorption/ionization-time of flight mass spectrometry. After data collection, a statistical analysis was performed to evaluate the effect of the intervention. RESULTS:Most residents were unconscious (80%), and most had a history of pneumonia (76%). Baseline demographic data did not significantly differ between the two groups. After the intervention, the intervention group had significant improvements in plaque index (1.66?±?0.78 vs. 0.94?±?0.64, p <? 0.01), gingival index (2.36?±?0.76 vs. 1.65?±?0.83, p <? 0.01), tongue coating index (0.96?±?1.10 vs. 0.16?±?0.47, p <? 0.01), distribution of Staphylococcus aureus in salivary samples (11.11?±?14.47% vs. 1.74?±?3.75%, p =?0.02), and salivary bacterial concentration ([4.27?±?3.65]?×?105 vs. [0.75?±?1.20]?×?105, p <? 0.01). Sputum bacterial concentration did not significantly differ. The intervention group also had a significantly lower annual prevalence of pneumonia hospitalization (1.24?±?1.51 vs. 0.48?±?0.59, p =?0.01), especially in residents whose salivary bacterial concentration exceeded the median. However, the duration of pneumonia hospitalization did not significantly differ between the two groups. CONCLUSION:A professional oral care intervention in nursing home residents can improve oral health, reduce levels of salivary bacteria and Staphylococcus aureus, and decrease the annual prevalence of pneumonia hospitalization. TRIAL REGISTRATION:Trial registration: ClinicalTrials.gov, NCT03874962. Registered 12 March 2019 - Retrospectively registered.
Project description:Background Variation in outcomes of patients with community acquired pneumonia (CAP) has been reported in some, but not all, studies. Although some variation is expected, unwarranted variation in healthcare impacts patient outcomes and equity of care. The aim of this systematic review was to: i) summarise current evidence on regional and inter-hospital variation in the clinical outcomes and process of care measures of patients hospitalised with CAP and ii) assess the strength of this evidence. Methods Databases were systematically searched from inception to February 2018 for relevant studies and data independently extracted by two investigators in accordance with the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analysis (PRISMA) statement. Included studies enrolled adults hospitalised with CAP and reported a measure of variation between two or more units in healthcare outcomes or process of care measures. Outcomes of interest were mortality, length of hospital stay (LOS) and re-admission rates. A structured synthesis of the studies was performed. Results Twenty-two studies were included in the analysis. The median number of units compared across studies was five (IQR 4–15). Evidence for variation in mortality between units was inconsistent; of eleven studies that performed statistical significance testing, five found significant variation. For LOS, of nine relevant studies, all found statistically significant variation. Four studies reported site of admission accounted for 1–24% of the total observed variation in LOS. A shorter LOS was not associated with increased mortality or readmission rates. For readmission, evidence was mixed; of seven studies, 4 found statistically significant variation. There was consistent evidence for variation in the use of intensive care, obtaining blood cultures on admission, receiving antibiotics within 8?h of admission and duration of intravenous antibiotics. Across all outcome measures, only one study accounted for natural variation between units in their analysis. Conclusion There is consistent evidence of moderate quality for significant variation in length of stay and process of care measures but not for in-patient mortality or hospital re-admission. Evidence linking variation in outcomes with variation in process of care measures was limited; where present no difference in mortality was detected despite POC variation. Adjustment for natural variation within studies was lacking; the proportion of observed variation due to chance is not quantified by existing evidence.
Project description:IMPORTANCE:While the number of prescribing clinicians (physicians and nurse practitioners) who provide any nursing home care remained stable over the past decade, the number of clinicians who focus their practice exclusively on nursing home care has increased by over 30%. OBJECTIVES:To measure the association between regional trends in clinician specialization in nursing home care and nursing home quality. DESIGN:Retrospective cross-sectional study. SETTING AND PARTICIPANTS:Patients treated in 15,636 nursing homes in 305 US hospital referral regions between 2013 and 2016. MEASURES:Clinician specialization in nursing home care for 2012-2015 was measured using Medicare fee-for-service billings. Nursing home specialists were defined as generalist physicians (internal medicine, family medicine, geriatrics, and general practice) or advanced practitioners (nurse practitioners and physician assistants) with at least 90% of their billings for care in nursing homes. The number of clinicians was aggregated at the hospital referral region level and divided by the number of occupied Medicare-certified nursing home beds. Nursing Home Compare quality measure scores for 2013-2016 were aggregated at the HHR level, weighted by occupied beds in each nursing home in the hospital referral region. We measured the association between the number of nursing home specialists per 1000 beds and the clinical quality measure scores in the subsequent year using linear regression. RESULTS:An increase in nursing home specialists per 1000 occupied beds in a region was associated with lower use of long-stay antipsychotic medications and indwelling bladder catheters, higher prevalence of depressive symptoms, and was not associated with urinary tract infections, use of restraints, or short-stay antipsychotic use. CONCLUSIONS AND IMPLICATIONS:Higher prevalence of nursing home specialists was associated with regional improvements in 2 of 6 quality measures. Future studies should evaluate whether concentrating patient care among clinicians who specialize in nursing home practice improves outcomes for individual patients. The current findings suggest that prescribing clinicians play an important role in nursing home care quality.
Project description:BackgroundPoor oral health has been a persistent problem in nursing home residents for decades, with severe consequences for residents and the health care system. Two major barriers to providing appropriate oral care are residents' responsive behaviors to oral care and residents' lack of ability or motivation to perform oral care on their own.ObjectivesTo evaluate the effectiveness of strategies that nursing home care providers can apply to either prevent/overcome residents' responsive behaviors to oral care, or enable/motivate residents to perform their own oral care.Materials and methodsWe searched the databases Medline, EMBASE, Evidence Based Reviews-Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials, CINAHL, and Web of Science for intervention studies assessing the effectiveness of eligible strategies. Two reviewers independently (a) screened titles, abstracts and retrieved full-texts; (b) searched key journal contents, key author publications, and reference lists of all included studies; and (c) assessed methodological quality of included studies. Discrepancies at any stage were resolved by consensus. We conducted a narrative synthesis of study results.ResultsWe included three one-group pre-test, post-test studies, and one cross-sectional study. Methodological quality was low (n = 3) and low moderate (n = 1). Two studies assessed strategies to enable/motivate nursing home residents to perform their own oral care, and to studies assessed strategies to prevent or overcome responsive behaviors to oral care. All studies reported improvements of at least some of the outcomes measured, but interpretation is limited due to methodological problems.ConclusionsPotentially promising strategies are available that nursing home care providers can apply to prevent/overcome residents' responsive behaviors to oral care or to enable/motivate residents to perform their own oral care. However, studies assessing these strategies have a high risk for bias. To overcome oral health problems in nursing homes, care providers will need practical strategies whose effectiveness was assessed in robust studies.
Project description:BackgroundEvidence supports streamlined approaches for inpatients with community-acquired pneumonia (CAP) including early transition to oral antibiotics and shorter therapy. Uptake of these approaches is variable, and the best approaches to local implementation of infection-specific guidelines are unknown. Our objective was to evaluate the impact of a clinical decision support (CDS) tool linked with a clinical pathway on CAP care.MethodsThis is a retrospective, observational pre-post intervention study of inpatients with pneumonia admitted to a single academic medical center. Interventions were introduced in 3 sequential 6-month phases; Phase 1: education alone; Phase 2: education and a CDS-driven CAP pathway coupled with active antimicrobial stewardship and provider feedback; and Phase 3: education and a CDS-driven CAP pathway without active stewardship. The 12 months preceding the intervention were used as a baseline. Primary outcomes were length of intravenous antibiotic therapy and total length of antibiotic therapy. Clinical, process, and cost outcomes were also measured.ResultsThe study included 1021 visits. Phase 2 was associated with significantly lower length of intravenous and total antibiotic therapy, higher procalcitonin lab utilization, and a 20% cost reduction compared with baseline. Phase 3 was associated with significantly lower length of intravenous antibiotic therapy and higher procalcitonin lab utilization compared with baseline.ConclusionsA CDS-driven CAP pathway supplemented by active antimicrobial stewardship review led to the most robust improvements in antibiotic use and decreased costs with similar clinical outcomes.
Project description:BackgroundNursing home (NH) residents have been dramatically affected by COVID-19, with extremely high rates of hospitalization and mortality.AimsTo describe the features and impact of an assistance model involving an intermediate care mobile medical specialist team (GIROT, Gruppo Intervento Rapido Ospedale Territorio) aimed at delivering "hospital-at-nursing home" care to NH residents with COVID-19 in Florence, Italy.MethodsThe GIROT activity was set-up during the first wave of the pandemic (W1, March-April 2020) and became a structured healthcare model during the second (W2, October 2020-January 2021). The activity involved (1) infection transmission control among NHs residents and staff, (2) comprehensive geriatric assessment including prognostication and geriatric syndromes management, (3) on-site diagnostic assessment and protocol-based treatment of COVID-19, (4) supply of nursing personnel to understaffed NHs. To estimate the impact of the GIROT intervention, we reported hospitalization and infection lethality rates recorded in SARS-CoV-2-positive NH residents during W1 and W2.ResultsThe GIROT activity involved 21 NHs (1159 residents) and 43 NHs (2448 residents) during W1 and W2, respectively. The percentage of infected residents was higher in W2 than in W1 (64.5% vs. 38.8%), while both hospitalization and lethality rates significantly decreased in W2 compared to W1 (10.1% vs 58.2% and 23.4% vs 31.1%, respectively).DiscussionPotentiating on-site care in the NHs paralleled a decrease of hospital admissions with no increase of lethality.ConclusionsAn innovative "hospital-at-nursing home" patient-centred care model based on comprehensive geriatric assessment may provide a valuable contribution in fighting COVID-19 in NH residents.
Project description:ObjectiveTo compare the costs of Community Nursing Homes (CNHs) to Medical Foster Homes (MFHs) at Veteran Health Administration (VHA) Medical Centers that established MFH programs.Data sourcesEpisode and costs data were derived from VA and Medicare files (inpatient, outpatient, emergency room, skilled nursing facility, dialysis, and hospice).Study designPropensity scores matched 354 MFH to 1693 CNH Veterans on demographics, clinical characteristics, health care utilization, and costs.Data extraction methodsData were retrieved for years 2010-2011 from the VA Corporate Data Warehouse, VA Health Data Repository, and the VA MFH Program through the VA Informatics and Computing Infrastructure (VINCI).Principal findingsAfter matching on unique characteristics of MFH Veterans, costs were $71.28 less per day alive compared to CNH care. Home-based and mental health care costs increased with savings largely attributable to avoiding CNH residential care. When average out-of-pocket payments by Veterans of $74/day are considered, MFH is at least cost neutral. Mortality was 12 percent higher among matched Veterans in CNHs.ConclusionsMFHs may serve as alternatives to traditional CNH care that do not increase total costs with mortality benefits. Future work should examine the differences for functional disability subgroups.
Project description:ImportancePneumonia affects more than 250 000 nursing home (NH) residents annually. A strategy to reduce pneumonia is to provide daily mouth care, especially to residents with dementia.ObjectiveTo evaluate the effectiveness of Mouth Care Without a Battle, a program that increases staff knowledge and attitudes regarding oral hygiene, changes mouth care, and improves oral hygiene, in reducing the incidence of pneumonia among NH residents.Design, setting, and participantsThis pragmatic cluster randomized trial observing 2152 NH residents for up to 2 years was conducted from September 2014 to May 2017. Data collectors were masked to study group. The study included 14 NHs from regions of North Carolina that evidenced proportionately high rehospitalization rates for pneumonia and long-term care residents. Nursing homes were pair matched and randomly assigned to intervention or control groups.InterventionMouth Care Without a Battle is a standardized program that teaches that mouth care is health care, provides instruction on individualized techniques and products for mouth care, and trains caregivers to provide care to residents who are resistant and in special situations. The control condition was standard mouth care.Main outcomes and measuresPneumonia incidence (primary) and hospitalization and mortality (secondary), obtained from medical records.ResultsOverall, the study enrolled 2152 residents (mean [SD] age, 79.4 [12.4] years; 1281 [66.2%] women; 1180 [62.2%] white residents). Participants included 1219 residents (56.6%) in 7 intervention NHs and 933 residents (43.4%) in 7 control NHs. During the 2-year study period, the incidence rate of pneumonia per 1000 resident-days was 0.67 and 0.72 in the intervention and control NHs, respectively. Neither the primary (unadjusted) nor secondary (covariate-adjusted) analyses found a significant reduction in pneumonia due to Mouth Care Without a Battle during 2 years (unadjusted incidence rate ratio, 0.90; upper bound of 1-sided 95% CI, 1.24; P = .27; adjusted incidence rate ratio, 0.92; upper bound of 1-sided 95% CI, 1.27; P = .30). In the second year, the rate of pneumonia was nonsignificantly higher in intervention NHs. Adjusted post hoc analyses limited to the first year found a significant reduction in pneumonia incidence in intervention NHs (IRR, 0.69; upper bound of 1-sided 95% CI, 0.94; P = .03).Conclusions and relevanceThis matched-pairs cluster randomized trial of a mouth care program compared with standard care was not effective in reducing pneumonia incidence at 2 years, although reduction was found during the first year. The lack of significant results in the second year may be associated with sustainability. Improving mouth care in US NHs may require the presence and support of dedicated oral care aides.Trial registrationClinicalTrials.gov Identifier: NCT03817450.