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In this article, the authors review the literature on the hospitalization of nursing home residents. First, they describe the incidence of hospitalization and the extent to which these rates differ due to data limitations, varying definitions of hospitalization, and changing health policies. Second, they describe the demographic and clinical characteristics of nursing home residents associated with hospitalization. Third, they review negative outcomes of hospitalization, including iatrogenic and nosocomial disease, mortality, and financial costs. Finally, they highlight several areas of concern this research raises and suggest areas for future studies.

The number of elderly people relying on formal long-term care services is dramatically increasing year after year, and the challenge of ensuring the quality and financial stability of care provision is one faced by governments in both the developed and developing world. This edited book is the first to provide a comprehensive international survey of long-term care provision and regulation, built around a series of case studies from Europe, North America and Asia. The analytical framework allows the different approaches that countries have adopted to be compared side by side and readers are encouraged to consider which quality assurance approaches might best meet their own country's needs. Wider issues underpinning the need to regulate the quality of long-term care are also discussed. This timely book is a valuable resource for policymakers working in the health care sector, researchers and students taking graduate courses on health policy and management

Medically needy pathways may provide temporary catastrophic coverage for low-income Medicare beneficiaries who do not otherwise qualify for full Medicaid benefits. Between January 2009 and June 2010, states with medically needy pathways had a higher percentage of low-income beneficiaries join Medicaid than states without such programs (7.5% vs. 4.1%, p < .01). However, among new full Medicaid participants, living in a state with a medically needy pathway was associated with a 3.8 percentage point (adjusted 95% confidence interval [1.8, 5.8]) increase in the probability of switching to partial Medicaid and a 4.5 percentage point (adjusted 95% confidence interval [2.9, 6.2]) increase in the probability of exiting Medicaid within 12 months. The predicted risk of leaving Medicaid was greatest when new Medicaid participants used only hospital services, rather than nursing home services, in their first month of Medicaid benefits. Alternative strategies for protecting low-income Medicare beneficiaries' access to care could provide more stable coverage.

Concerns about the quality of long-term care have resulted in an extensive array of regulations governing provider behavior. This article reports the results of a survey of 1,147 long-term care specialists on issues related to the government's performance in assuring quality and improving care. With the exception of providers, more than half of specialists ranked the quality of the average nursing home as fair or poor; home health agencies and even assisted-living facilities fared only somewhat better. Yet despite the perceived ineffectiveness of the current regime, the majority of specialists expressed a general willingness to continue pursuing more stringent and enhanced enforcement and to proceed down the same path with assisted-living facilities. Furthermore, while most were not sanguine about public reporting, the majority favored pay-for-performance, even though both rely on the same information. In addition to constituency group affiliation, differences in views derived largely from respondents' ideological predispositions.

Deficiencies in current long-term care (LTC) financing models are substantial and must be addressed if the nation is going to meet the needs of the growing population of frail and disabled elders. Because debate over reforming LTC financing has traditionally focused on the relative roles of the public and private sectors, this article examines what characteristics predispose LTC specialists to weigh one approach— public or private—more than the other. Data are derived from a Web-based survey of 1,147 individuals with known or demonstrable experience with LTC, including consumer advocates, provider representatives, policy experts, and public officials. Results suggest that support for spurring private sector mechanisms, bolstering the government's role, and reforming Medicare and Medicaid vary with key characteristics of the respondents, including experiential, attitudinal, and background variables. Findings also suggest consensus that reform of LTC financing should improve on the current public—private partnership in this area.

In the context of recent state budget shortfalls and the repeal of the Boren Amendment, state Medicaid expenditures for nursing home care were considered a potential target for payment cuts. The authors examine this issue using data from a survey of state nursing home payment policies. Results indicate that aggregate inflation-adjusted Medicaid payment rates steadily increased through 2004, and this growth is partly attributable to the adoption of nursing home provider taxes in many states. A recent proposal to cap provider taxes, if enacted, may lead to a decrease in Medicaid payment rates for nursing home care.

OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the effect of partisan political control on financial performance, structure, and outcomes of for-profit and not-for-profit US nursing homes. DATA SOURCES/STUDY SETTING: Nineteen-year panel (1996-2014) of state election outcomes, financial performance data from nursing home cost reports, operational and aggregate resident characteristics from OSCAR of 13 737 nursing homes. STUDY DESIGN: A linear panel model was estimated to identify the effect of Democratic and Republican political control on next year's outcomes. Nursing home outcomes were defined as yearly facility revenues, expenses, and profits; the number of Medicaid, Medicare, and private-pay residents; staffing levels; and selected resident outcomes. PRINCIPAL FINDINGS: Democratic political control leads to an increase in financial flows to for-profit nursing homes, boosting profits without producing observable improvements in resident outcomes. Republican political control leads to lower revenues and profits of for-profit nursing homes. A shift from Medicaid to more profitable private-pay residents following Republican political control is observed for all nursing homes. Financial performance of not-for-profit nursing homes is not significantly affected by changes in political control. CONCLUSION: Political control of the two legislative chambers-but not of the governorship-shapes the structure of the nursing home industry as seen in provider behavior.

OBJECTIVE. In 1987, the Omnibus Reconciliation Act (OBRA) called for a dramatic overhaul of the nursing home (NH) quality assurance system. This study examines trends in facility, resident, and quality characteristics since passage of that legislation. METHODS. We conducted univariate analyses of national data on U.S. NHs from three sources: (1) the 1985 National Nursing Home Survey (NNHS), (2) the 1992–2015 Online Survey Certification and Reporting (OSCAR) Data, and (3) LTCfocUS data for 2000–2015. We examined changes in NH characteristics, resident composition, and quality. SETTING AND PARTICIPANTS. US NH facilities and residents between 1985 and 2015. RESULTS. The proportion of NHs that are Medicare and Medicaid certified, members of chains, and operating not-for-profit has increased over the past 30 years. There have also been reductions in occupancy and increases in the share of residents who are: racial/ethnic minorities, admitted for post-acute care, in need of physical assistance with daily activities, primarily supported by Medicare, and diagnosed with a psychiatric condition such as schizophrenia. With regards to NH quality, direct care staffing levels have increased. The proportion of residents physically restrained has decreased dramatically, coupled with changes in inappropriate antipsychotic (chemical restraint) use. CONCLUSIONS AND IMPLICATIONS. Together with changes in the long-term care market, the NHs of today look very different from NHs 30 years ago. The 30th anniversary of OBRA provides a unique opportunity to reflect, consider what we have learned, and think about the future of this and other sectors of long-term care.