Medicare beneficiaries return to emergency rooms after nursing home discharge
- Date:
- February 18, 2014
- Source:
- University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
- Summary:
- Nursing homes are widely used by Medicare beneficiaries who require rehabilitation after hospital stays. But according to a recent study, a high percentage of Medicare patients who are discharged from nursing homes will return to the hospital or the emergency room within 30 days. The study included more than 50,000 Medicare beneficiaries who were treated at skilled nursing facilities in North and South Carolina, and revealed that approximately 22 percent of beneficiaries required emergency care within 30 days of discharge and 37.5 percent required acute care within 90 days.
- Share:
Nursing homes are widely used by Medicare beneficiaries who require rehabilitation after hospital stays. But according to a recent study led by a researcher at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill School of Nursing, a high percentage of Medicare patients who are discharged from nursing homes will return to the hospital or the emergency room within 30 days.
"Nearly two million older adults use this benefit every year," said assistant professor Mark Toles, the first author of the study. "Before this study, we didn't recognize the large number of older adults who require additional acute care after they're discharged from a nursing home."
The study included more than 50,000 Medicare beneficiaries who were treated at skilled nursing facilities in North and South Carolina. Analyses conducted in collaboration with the Carolinas Center for Medical Excellence and investigators at Duke University revealed that approximately 22 percent of beneficiaries required emergency care within 30 days of discharge and 37.5 percent required acute care within 90 days.
Toles and his colleagues also examined whether factors such as race and diagnosis increased the likelihood that older adults discharged from a nursing facility would return to the hospital. They found that men and African Americans were more likely to need additional acute care along with older adults with cancer or respiratory diseases. Other factors associated with a higher need for acute care included a high number of previous hospitalizations, comorbid conditions, and receiving care from a for-profit facility.
Toles explained that researchers currently don't know how many of these rehospitalizations and emergency room visits are preventable. Because the Affordable Care Act penalizes hospitals for readmitting Medicare patients, there has been more focus on improving patients' transition from the hospital to their home. Toles hopes this study will convince decision makers to pay attention to transitions from nursing facilities as well.
"The role of nursing homes in communities has changed," he said. "These facilities are increasingly dedicated to transitioning older adults from the hospital back to their own homes. Short-term use of nursing facilities has grown tremendously over the past ten years and we have to examine interventions that will improve that transition."
Story Source:
Materials provided by University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Note: Content may be edited for style and length.
Journal Reference:
- Mark Toles, Ruth A. Anderson, Mark Massing, Mary D. Naylor, Eric Jackson, Sharon Peacock-Hinton, Cathleen Colón-Emeric. Restarting the Cycle: Incidence and Predictors of First Acute Care Use After Nursing Home Discharge. Journal of the American Geriatrics Society, 2014; 62 (1): 79 DOI: 10.1111/jgs.12602
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