National Healthcare Quality and Disparities Report
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Topics
- Access to Care (2)
- Caregiving (4)
- Central Line-Associated Bloodstream Infections (CLABSI) (2)
- Chronic Conditions (4)
- Community-Acquired Infections (2)
- Dementia (1)
- Diabetes (2)
- Diagnostic Safety and Quality (1)
- Disparities (1)
- Elderly (10)
- Electronic Health Records (EHRs) (5)
- Emergency Department (3)
- Falls (1)
- Guidelines (1)
- Healthcare-Associated Infections (HAIs) (4)
- Healthcare Costs (1)
- Healthcare Delivery (1)
- Healthcare Utilization (3)
- Health Information Technology (HIT) (5)
- (-) Home Healthcare (33)
- Hospital Discharge (1)
- Hospitalization (5)
- Hospital Readmissions (4)
- Infectious Diseases (1)
- Injuries and Wounds (1)
- Kidney Disease and Health (1)
- Long-Term Care (3)
- Medicare (5)
- Medication (1)
- Medication: Safety (1)
- Neurological Disorders (1)
- Nursing (2)
- Nursing Homes (2)
- Outcomes (1)
- Patient Adherence/Compliance (1)
- Patient Safety (2)
- Patient Self-Management (1)
- Policy (1)
- Prevention (4)
- Provider (4)
- Provider: Nurse (4)
- Quality Improvement (1)
- Quality of Care (1)
- Racial and Ethnic Minorities (2)
- Rehabilitation (1)
- Risk (5)
- Training (2)
- Transitions of Care (4)
- Urinary Tract Infection (UTI) (1)
AHRQ Research Studies
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Research Studies is a compilation of published research articles funded by AHRQ or authored by AHRQ researchers.
Results
1 to 25 of 33 Research Studies DisplayedWatnick S, Blake PG, Mehrotra R
System-level strategies to improve home dialysis: policy levers and quality initiatives.
This article discusses trends in home dialysis use, reviews the evolving understanding of what constitutes high quality care for the home dialysis population (as well as how this can be measured), and discusses policy and advocacy efforts that continue to shape the care of US patients, and compares with experiences in other countries. The authors conclude by discussing future directions for quality and advocacy efforts.
AHRQ-funded; HS028684.
Citation: Watnick S, Blake PG, Mehrotra R .
System-level strategies to improve home dialysis: policy levers and quality initiatives.
Clin J Am Soc Nephrol 2023 Dec; 18(12):1616-25. doi: 10.2215/cjn.0000000000000299..
Keywords: Home Healthcare, Kidney Disease and Health, Policy, Quality Improvement, Quality of Care
Keller SC, Hannum SM, Weems K
Implementing and validating a home-infusion central-line-associated bloodstream infection surveillance definition.
Researchers tested the validity of a home-infusion central-line-associated bloodstream infection (CLABSI) surveillance definition and the feasibility and acceptability of its implementation. Their study was conducted in large home-infusion agencies in a CLABSI prevention collaborative in 14 states and the District of Columbia and included semistructured interviews with staff performing home-infusion CLABSI surveillance. The results showed that the home-infusion CLABSI surveillance definition was valid and would be feasible to implement.
AHRQ-funded; HS027819.
Citation: Keller SC, Hannum SM, Weems K .
Implementing and validating a home-infusion central-line-associated bloodstream infection surveillance definition.
Infect Control Hosp Epidemiol 2023 Nov; 44(11):1748-59. doi: 10.1017/ice.2023.70..
Keywords: Home Healthcare, Central Line-Associated Bloodstream Infections (CLABSI), Healthcare-Associated Infections (HAIs)
Song J, Min SH, Chae S
Uncovering hidden trends: identifying time trajectories in risk factors documented in clinical notes and predicting hospitalizations and emergency department visits during home health care.
The purpose of this study was to characterize risk factor patterns documented in home health care (HHC) clinical notes and explore their relationships with hospitalizations or emergency department (ED) visits. The researchers analyzed data for 73,350 episodes of care from one large HHC organization utilizing dynamic time warping and hierarchical clustering analysis to characterize the patterns of risk factors over time documented in clinical notes. The study found that six temporal clusters emerged, reflecting varying patterns in how risk factors were documented. Patients with a sharp increase in documented risk factors over time had a 3 times greater probability of hospitalization or ED visit than patients with no documented risk factors. The majority of risk factors were found in the physiological domain, and a minority were found in the environmental domain.
AHRQ-funded; HS027742.
Citation: Song J, Min SH, Chae S .
Uncovering hidden trends: identifying time trajectories in risk factors documented in clinical notes and predicting hospitalizations and emergency department visits during home health care.
J Am Med Inform Assoc 2023 Oct 19; 30(11):1801-10. doi: 10.1093/jamia/ocad101..
Keywords: Emergency Department, Hospitalization, Home Healthcare, Risk
Squires A, Engel P, Ma C
Continuity of care versus language concordance as an intervention to reduce hospital readmissions from home health care.
The purpose of this study was to examine the relative effectiveness of continuity of care and language concordance as alternative or complementary interventions to improve health outcomes of people with limited English proficiency. Participants included over 22,000 non-English-speaking patients from the New York City area who were admitted to their home health site following hospital discharge. Findings revealed that high continuity of care and high language concordance significantly decreased readmissions, along with high continuity of care and low language concordance; low continuity of care and high language concordance did not significantly impact readmissions. The authors concluded that enhancing continuity of care for those with language barriers the US home health system may help to address disparities and reduce hospital readmission rates.
AHRQ-funded; HS023593.
Citation: Squires A, Engel P, Ma C .
Continuity of care versus language concordance as an intervention to reduce hospital readmissions from home health care.
Med Care 2023 Sep; 61(9):605-10. doi: 10.1097/mlr.0000000000001884..
Keywords: Hospital Readmissions, Transitions of Care, Home Healthcare
Min SH, Song J, Evans L
Home healthcare patients with distinct psychological, cognitive, and behavioral symptom profiles and at-risk subgroup for hospitalization and emergency department visits using latent class analysis.
The purpose of this study was to explore subgroups of older adults receiving home healthcare services with similar psychological, cognitive, and behavioral symptom profiles and an at-risk subgroup for future hospitalization and emergency department visits as an indicator of underdiagnosis or undertreatment. The three-class model applied in the study consisted of Class 1: "Moderate psychological symptoms without behavioral issues," Class 2: "Severe psychological symptoms with behavioral issues," and Class 3: "Mild psychological symptoms without behavioral issues." The study found that Class 1 patients had 1.14 higher odds and Class 2 patients had 1.26 higher odds of being hospitalized or visiting emergency departments compared to Class 3. The researchers discovered significant differences in individual characteristics such as age, gender, race/ethnicity, and insurance.
AHRQ-funded; HS027742.
Citation: Min SH, Song J, Evans L .
Home healthcare patients with distinct psychological, cognitive, and behavioral symptom profiles and at-risk subgroup for hospitalization and emergency department visits using latent class analysis.
Clin Nurs Res 2023 Sep; 32(7):1021-30. doi: 10.1177/10547738231183026..
Keywords: Home Healthcare, Emergency Department, Hospitalization, Elderly
Oladapo-Shittu O, Hannum SM, Salinas AB
The need to expand the infection prevention workforce in home infusion therapy.
This study looked at the prevalence of formal surveillance and infection prevention training for home infusion staff. The authors interviewed home infusion staff who perform surveillance activities about barriers to and facilitators for central line-associated bloodstream infection (CLABSI) surveillance and identified barriers to training in CLABSI surveillance. Their findings showed a lack of formal surveillance training which can be addressed by by adapting existing training resources to the home infusion setting.
AHRQ-funded; HS027819.
Citation: Oladapo-Shittu O, Hannum SM, Salinas AB .
The need to expand the infection prevention workforce in home infusion therapy.
Am J Infect Control 2023 May; 51(5):594-96. doi: 10.1016/j.ajic.2022.11.008.AHRQ-funded; HS027819..
Keywords: Healthcare-Associated Infections (HAIs), Prevention, Home Healthcare, Central Line-Associated Bloodstream Infections (CLABSI)
Hobensack M, Song J, Chae S
Capturing concerns about patient deterioration in narrative documentation in home healthcare.
This study aimed to build machine learning algorithms to identify “concerning” narrative notes of home healthcare (HHC) patients and identify emergency themes to support early identification of patients at risk for deterioration. Six algorithms were applied to 4000 narrative notes from a HHC agency to classify notes as either "concerning" or "not concerning." Emerging themes were identified using Latent Dirichlet Allocation bag of words topic modeling. Emerging themes of concern included patient-clinician communication, HHC services provided, gait challenges, mobility concerns, wounds, and caregivers. Most of these themes had already been identified in previous literature as increasing risk for adverse events.
AHRQ-funded; HS027742.
Citation: Hobensack M, Song J, Chae S .
Capturing concerns about patient deterioration in narrative documentation in home healthcare.
AMIA Annu Symp Proc 2023 Apr 29; 2022:552-59..
Keywords: Home Healthcare, Electronic Health Records (EHRs), Health Information Technology (HIT)
Hobensack M, Song J, Scharp D
Machine learning applied to electronic health record data in home healthcare: a scoping review.
This literature review aimed to synthesize and appraise the literature describing the application of machine learning to predict adverse outcomes (e.g., hospitalization, mortality) using electronic health record (EHR) data in the home healthcare (HHC) setting. The secondary aim was to evaluate the comprehensiveness of predictors used in the machine learning algorithms guided by the Biopsychosocial Model. Studies were included if they 1) described services provided in the HHC setting, 2) applied machine learning algorithms to predict adverse outcomes, defined as outcomes related to patient deterioration, 3) used EHR data and, 4) focused on the adult population. Predictors were mapped to the Biopsychosocial Model. The final sample included 20 studies, of which 18 used predictors from standardized assessments integrated in the EHR. The most common outcome was hospitalization (55%), followed by mortality (25%). About 35% of studies excluded psychological predictors. Most studies (75%) demonstrated high or unclear risk of bias with tree based algorithms most frequently applied (75%).
AHRQ-funded; HS027742.
Citation: Hobensack M, Song J, Scharp D .
Machine learning applied to electronic health record data in home healthcare: a scoping review.
Int J Med Inform 2023 Feb; 170:104978. doi: 10.1016/j.ijmedinf.2022.104978..
Keywords: Home Healthcare, Electronic Health Records (EHRs), Health Information Technology (HIT)
Song J, Chae S, Bowles KH
The identification of clusters of risk factors and their association with hospitalizations or emergency department visits in home health care.
The purpose of this retrospective cohort study was to identify risk factor clusters in home health care and assess whether the clusters are related with hospitalizations or emergency department visits. The researchers included 61,454 patients associated with 79,079 episodes receiving home health care from one of the largest home health care organizations in the U.S. The study found that a total of 11.6% of home health episodes resulted in hospitalizations or emergency department visits. Three clusters were formed by the risk factors: 1) Cluster 1- a combination of risk factors related to situations where patients may experience increased pain ("impaired physical comfort with pain"). 2) Cluster 2 - characterized by multiple comorbidities or other risks for hospitalization (e.g., prior falls, called "high comorbidity burden"). 3) Cluster 3 - "impaired cognitive/psychological and skin integrity" which includes dementia or skin ulcer. The risk of hospitalizations or emergency department visits increased by 1.95 times for Cluster 2 and by 2.12 times for Cluster 3 when compared to cluster 1. The study concluded that Varying combinations of risk factors affected the likelihood of negative outcomes.
AHRQ-funded; HS027742.
Citation: Song J, Chae S, Bowles KH .
The identification of clusters of risk factors and their association with hospitalizations or emergency department visits in home health care.
J Adv Nurs 2023 Feb; 79(2):593-604. doi: 10.1111/jan.15498..
Keywords: Emergency Department, Hospitalization, Home Healthcare, Risk
Ma C, McDonald MV, Feldman PH
Continuity of nursing care in home health: impact on rehospitalization among older adults with dementia.
The objective of this retrospective cohort study was to examine the association between continuity of nursing care in home health care (HHC) and rehospitalization among persons with dementia (PWD). Multiple years of HHC assessment, administrative, and human resources data from a large urban not-for-profit home health agency was used. Findings showed that wide variations exist in continuity of nursing care to PWD. Consistency in nurse staff when providing HHC visits to PWD is critical for preventing rehospitalizations.
AHRQ-funded; HS023593.
Citation: Ma C, McDonald MV, Feldman PH .
Continuity of nursing care in home health: impact on rehospitalization among older adults with dementia.
Med Care 2021 Oct;59(10):913-20. doi: 10.1097/mlr.0000000000001599..
Keywords: Elderly, Home Healthcare, Dementia, Neurological Disorders, Hospital Readmissions
Song J, Woo K, Shang J
Predictive risk models for wound infection-related hospitalization or ED visits in home health care using machine-learning algorithms.
Wound infection is prevalent in home healthcare (HHC) and often leads to hospitalizations. However, none of the previous studies of wounds in HHC have used data from clinical notes. Therefore, in this paper, the authors created a more accurate description of a patient's condition by extracting risk factors from clinical notes to build predictive models to identify a patient's risk of wound infection in HHC.
AHRQ-funded; HS024915.
Citation: Song J, Woo K, Shang J .
Predictive risk models for wound infection-related hospitalization or ED visits in home health care using machine-learning algorithms.
Adv Skin Wound Care 2021 Aug;34(8):1-12. doi: 10.1097/01.Asw.0000755928.30524.22..
Keywords: Home Healthcare, Injuries and Wounds, Risk, Hospitalization
Russell D, Burgdorf JG, Kramer C
Family caregivers' conceptions of trust in home health care providers.
Trust is important to family caregivers of older adults receiving home health care (HHC). Caregivers rely extensively on nurses, home health aides, and other providers to manage complex care tasks. The current study examined how family caregivers conceived of trust in HHC providers. The investigators found that caregivers' conceptions of trust in providers were affected by interpersonal aspects of their interactions with providers as well as the broader systems of care within which they participate.
AHRQ-funded; HS022140.
Citation: Russell D, Burgdorf JG, Kramer C .
Family caregivers' conceptions of trust in home health care providers.
Res Gerontol Nurs 2021 Jul-Aug;14(4):200-10. doi: 10.3928/19404921-20210526-01..
Keywords: Elderly, Home Healthcare, Caregiving
Burgdorf JG, Arbaje AI, Stuart EA
Unmet family caregiver training needs associated with acute care utilization during home health care.
This study estimated the proportion of family caregivers assisting Medicare home health patients who have unmet training needs and its’ potential impact on older adults’ risk of acute care utilization. Linked data from the National Health and Aging Trends Study, Outcome and Assessment Information Set (OASIS), Medicare Provider of Services file, and Medicare claims data from 2011 to 2016 were used. Rates of unmet training needs varied from 8.2% of family caregivers assisting with household chores and 16% assisting with self-care tasks. After controlling for older adult and home health provider characteristics, older adults with family caregivers who had unmet training needs were twice as likely to incur acute care utilization during their home health episode.
AHRQ-funded; HS0000029.
Citation: Burgdorf JG, Arbaje AI, Stuart EA .
Unmet family caregiver training needs associated with acute care utilization during home health care.
J Am Geriatr Soc 2021 Jul;69(7):1887-95. doi: 10.1111/jgs.17138..
Keywords: Caregiving, Home Healthcare, Elderly, Healthcare Utilization, Training
Adams V, Song J, Shang J
Infection prevention and control practices in the home environment: examining enablers and barriers to adherence among home health care nurses.
This study’s aim was to examine the impact of individual, home environment, and organization factors on Infection Prevention and Control (IPC) practices in home health care. A survey of 350 nurses across two large home care agencies was conducted to examine the relationship between IPC adherence and these factors. Multiple barriers to IPC practices in patients’ homes were reported including clutter (74.5%), and a dirty environment (70.3%). They also reported limited availability of some IPC supplies including personal protective equipment.
AHRQ-funded; HS024723.
Citation: Adams V, Song J, Shang J .
Infection prevention and control practices in the home environment: examining enablers and barriers to adherence among home health care nurses.
Am J Infect Control 2021 Jun;49(6):721-26. doi: 10.1016/j.ajic.2020.10.021..
Keywords: Home Healthcare, Community-Acquired Infections, Infectious Diseases, Prevention, Provider: Nurse, Provider
Smith JM, Lin H, Thomas-Hawkins C
Timing of home health care initiation and 30-day rehospitalizations among Medicare beneficiaries with diabetes by race and ethnicity.
Older adults with diabetes are at elevated risk of complications following hospitalization. Home health care services mitigate the risk of adverse events and facilitate a safe transition home. In the United States, when home health care services are prescribed, federal guidelines require they begin within two days of hospital discharge. This study examined the association between timing of home health care initiation and 30-day rehospitalization outcomes in a cohort of 786,734 Medicare beneficiaries following a diabetes-related index hospitalization admission during 2015.
AHRQ-funded; HS022406.
Citation: Smith JM, Lin H, Thomas-Hawkins C .
Timing of home health care initiation and 30-day rehospitalizations among Medicare beneficiaries with diabetes by race and ethnicity.
Int J Environ Res Public Health 2021 May 25;18(11). doi: 10.3390/ijerph18115623..
Keywords: Elderly, Home Healthcare, Hospital Readmissions, Medicare, Diabetes, Chronic Conditions, Racial and Ethnic Minorities
Wang J, Ying M, Temkin-Greener H
Care-partner support and hospitalization in assisted living during transitional home health care.
This study examined the impact of care-partner support on outcomes among assisted living (AL) residents. Variation in care-partner and its impact on hospitalizations among AL residents receiving Medicare home health (HH) services was investigated. Analysis of national data from various databases was used and a total of 741,926 participants were identified with Medicare HH admissions in 2017. Care-partner support during the HH admission was measured in seven domains: activity of daily living (ADLs), instrumental activities of ADLs), medication administration, treatment, medical equipment, home safety, and transportation. Care-partner support was categorized as assistance not needed, care-partner currently providing assistance, care-partner needs additional training/support to provide assistance, and care-partner is unavailable/unlikely to provide assistance. Among the cohort, inadequate care-partner support was identified for all seven domains ranging from 13.1% for transportation to 49.8% for treatment and was unavailable for 0.9% for transportation to 11.0% for treatment. Having inadequate or unavailable care-partner support was related to increased risk of hospitalization by 8.9% for treatment to 41.3% for medication administration.
AHRQ-funded; HS026893.
Citation: Wang J, Ying M, Temkin-Greener H .
Care-partner support and hospitalization in assisted living during transitional home health care.
J Am Geriatr Soc 2021 May;69(5):1231-39. doi: 10.1111/jgs.17005..
Keywords: Elderly, Transitions of Care, Caregiving, Hospitalization, Home Healthcare, Long-Term Care
Champion C, Sockolow PS, Bowles KH
Getting to complete and accurate medication lists during the transition to home health care.
This observational field study looked at the work that home health care (HHC) admissions nurses complete related to medication reconciliation tasks, explored the impact of shared electronic medication data (interoperability), and highlight opportunities to enhance medication reconciliation with respect to transition in care to HHC agencies. Three diverse Pennsylvania HHC agencies participated, with each using different electronic health record systems. Six nurses per site admitted 2 patients each (36 patients total) and their tasks were examined in depth. Medication reconciliation tasks included changes in number of medications and change types and calls to the health provider (doctor or pharmacy) to resolve medication-related issues. A high percentage of patients used multiple medications (more than 12 medications on average), and were high-risk (on average more than 8 medications per patient). Medication reconciliation decreased the number of prescriptions between pre- and post-reconciliation for 91% of patients with 41% of the medications requiring changes. Two-thirds of the nurses called a provider to facilitate medication changes. Interoperability reduced the number of changes required but did not eliminate changes or calls to providers.
AHRQ-funded; R01 HS024537.
Citation: Champion C, Sockolow PS, Bowles KH .
Getting to complete and accurate medication lists during the transition to home health care.
J Am Med Dir Assoc 2021 May;22(5):1003-08. doi: 10.1016/j.jamda.2020.06.024..
Keywords: Medication, Medication: Safety, Transitions of Care, Home Healthcare, Patient Safety
Woo K, Adams V, Wilson P
Identifying urinary tract infection-related information in home care nursing notes.
Urinary tract infection (UTI) is common in home care but not easily captured with standard assessment. This study aimed to examine the value of nursing notes in detecting UTI signs and symptoms in home care. The investigators found that information in nursing notes was often overlooked by stakeholders and not integrated into predictive modeling for decision-making support. They indicate that their findings highlighted the value of nursing notes in early risk identification and care guidance.
AHRQ-funded; R01 HS024723.
Citation: Woo K, Adams V, Wilson P .
Identifying urinary tract infection-related information in home care nursing notes.
J Am Med Dir Assoc 2021 May;22(5):1015-21.e2. doi: 10.1016/j.jamda.2020.12.010..
Keywords: Urinary Tract Infection (UTI), Home Healthcare, Diagnostic Safety and Quality
Russell D, Dowding D, Trifilio M
Individual, social, and environmental factors for infection risk among home healthcare patients: a multi-method study.
This paper is a study of nurse perceptions of individual, social, and environmental factors for infection risk among home healthcare (HHC) patients and also identifies the frequency of environmental barriers to infection prevention and control in HHC. Data were collected in 2017-2018 from qualitative interviews with 50 HHC nurses and structured observations of nurse visits to patients’ homes (n = 400). Perceived infection risk among patients was characterized as being influenced by knowledge of and attitudes towards infection prevention and engagement in hygiene practices, receipt of support from informal caregivers and nurse interventions aimed at cultivating infection control knowledge and practices, and the home environment. Frequent environmental barriers observed during visits to patients included clutter (39.5%), poor lighting (38.8%), dirtiness (28.5%), and pets (17.2%).
AHRQ-funded; HS024723.
Citation: Russell D, Dowding D, Trifilio M .
Individual, social, and environmental factors for infection risk among home healthcare patients: a multi-method study.
Health Soc Care Community 2021 May;29(3):780-88. doi: 10.1111/hsc.13321..
Keywords: Home Healthcare, Community-Acquired Infections, Risk, Provider: Nurse, Provider
McDonald MV, Brickner C, Russell D
Observation of hand hygiene practices in home health care.
The purpose of this observational study was to describe nurse hand hygiene practices in the home health care (HHC) setting, nurse adherence to hand hygiene guidelines, and factors associated with hand hygiene opportunities during home care visits. The investigators concluded that hand hygiene adherence in HHC was suboptimal, with rates mirroring those reported in hospital and outpatient settings.
AHRQ-funded; HS024723.
Citation: McDonald MV, Brickner C, Russell D .
Observation of hand hygiene practices in home health care.
J Am Med Dir Assoc 2021 May;22(5):1029-34. doi: 10.1016/j.jamda.2020.07.031..
Keywords: Home Healthcare, Nursing, Provider: Nurse, Provider, Prevention, Healthcare-Associated Infections (HAIs), Guidelines
Sockolow PS, Bowles KH, Le NB
There's a problem with the problem list: incongruence of patient problem information across the home care admission.
The purpose of this observational field study was to illustrate patterns of patient problem information received and documented across the home health care (HHC) admission process and offer practice, policy, and health information technology recommendations to improve information transfer. The investigators concluded that diagnosis or problem information transferred from the referral source or gathered during an in-home assessment did not appear in the plan of care. Because of the EHR structure, clinicians could not identify inactive problem or problem priority.
AHRQ-funded; HS024537.
Citation: Sockolow PS, Bowles KH, Le NB .
There's a problem with the problem list: incongruence of patient problem information across the home care admission.
J Am Med Dir Assoc 2021 May;22(5):1009-14. doi: 10.1016/j.jamda.2020.06.032..
Keywords: Home Healthcare, Electronic Health Records (EHRs), Health Information Technology (HIT)
Reistetter TA, Eschbach K K, Prochaska J
Understanding variation in postacute care: developing rehabilitation service areas through geographic mapping.
This study’s goal was to demonstrate a method for developing rehabilitation service areas for post-acute care. A secondary analysis of 2013-2014 Medicare records for older patients in Texas (n = 469,172) was conducted. The analysis included admission records for inpatient rehabilitation facilities, skilled nursing facilities, and long-term care hospitals. The authors used Ward’s algorithm to cluster patient ZIP code tabulation areas based on which facilities patients were admitted to for rehabilitation. They set the number of rehabilitation clusters to 22 to allow for comparison to the 22 hospital referral regions. Interclass Correlation Coefficient (ICC) and variance in the number of rehabilitation beds across areas were the methods used to evaluate rehabilitation service areas. The service areas had a higher ICC and variance in beds than the hospital referral regions.
AHRQ-funded; HS024711.
Citation: Reistetter TA, Eschbach K K, Prochaska J .
Understanding variation in postacute care: developing rehabilitation service areas through geographic mapping.
Am J Phys Med Rehabil 2021 May;100(5):465-72. doi: 10.1097/phm.0000000000001577..
Keywords: Elderly, Rehabilitation, Medicare, Nursing Homes, Long-Term Care, Home Healthcare, Access to Care
Burgdorf JG, Stuart EA, Arbaje AI
Family caregiver training needs and Medicare home health visit utilization.
This study looked at family caregiver training needs and Medicare home health visit utilization. Medicare home health providers are now required to give family caregiver training, but service intensity is not known. This observational study linked National Health and Aging Trends Study (NHATS), Outcomes and Assessment Information (OASIS), and Medicare claims data to evaluate the relationship between caregivers’ training needs and number/type of home health visits. A total of 1217 NHATS participants receiving Medicare-funded home health between 2011 and 2016 were included. Nurse visits were more likely when family caregivers had medication management or household chore training needs. Therapy visits were more likely when caregivers had self-care training needs. Aide visits were more likely when caregivers had household chore or self-care training needs. Medication management training needs resulted in an additional 1.06 nursing visits, and household chore training an additional 3.24 total and a subset of 1.32 aide visits.
AHRQ-funded; HS000029.
Citation: Burgdorf JG, Stuart EA, Arbaje AI .
Family caregiver training needs and Medicare home health visit utilization.
Med Care 2021 Apr;59(4):341-47. doi: 10.1097/mlr.0000000000001487..
Keywords: Caregiving, Elderly, Home Healthcare, Medicare, Training, Healthcare Utilization
Smith JM, Jarrín OF, Lin H
Racial disparities in post-acute home health care referral and utilization among older adults with diabetes.
The purpose of this study was to examine the association between race/ethnicity and hospital discharge to home health care and subsequent utilization of home health care among a cohort of adults (age 50 and older) who experienced a diabetes-related hospitalization. The investigators found that among those discharged to home health care, all non-white racial/ethnic minority patients were less likely to receive services within 14-days.
AHRQ-funded; HS022406.
Citation: Smith JM, Jarrín OF, Lin H .
Racial disparities in post-acute home health care referral and utilization among older adults with diabetes.
Int J Environ Res Public Health 2021 Mar 19;18(6):3196. doi: 10.3390/ijerph18063196..
Keywords: Elderly, Home Healthcare, Diabetes, Chronic Conditions, Racial and Ethnic Minorities, Disparities, Access to Care, Healthcare Utilization
Misra-Hebert AD, Rothberg MB, Fox J
Healthcare utilization and patient and provider experience with a home visit program for patients discharged from the hospital at high risk for readmission.
This retrospective cohort study assessed the association of home visits by advanced practice registered nurses (APRNs) and paramedics with healthcare utilization and mortality of patients released home after hospital discharge The authors looked at adult medical patients discharged to home from November 2017-September 2019. They assessed outcomes for home visit vs. matched comparison patients at 30, 90, and 180 days, including hospital admission, emergency department (ED) use, and death using two phases. Phase 1 was defined as APRN or paramedic visits assigned by geographic location and Phase 2 defined as APRN and paramedic visit teams assigned to patients. They also compared patients who declined home visits with those accepting them. Phase 1 outcomes showed no differences in readmissions, ED visits, or death at 30,90, and 180 days. Phase 2 showed patients who had home visits had fewer 30-day readmissions and no differences in other outcomes. Patients who accepted home visits had lower odds of readmission compared to patients who declined. Forty-four interviews were also conducted, and themes of Medication Understanding, Knowledge Gap after Discharge, Patient Medical Complexity, Social Context, and Patient Engagement/Need for Reassurance emerged.
AHRQ-funded; HS024128.
Citation: Misra-Hebert AD, Rothberg MB, Fox J .
Healthcare utilization and patient and provider experience with a home visit program for patients discharged from the hospital at high risk for readmission.
Healthc 2021 Mar;9(1):100518. doi: 10.1016/j.hjdsi.2020.100518..
Keywords: Home Healthcare, Transitions of Care, Hospital Discharge, Hospital Readmissions