A Prospective 12-Month Study of Prescriptions in Long-Term Care Nursing Facility Residents

2019 ◽  
Vol 34 (3) ◽  
pp. 206-214
Author(s):  
Edward L. Schneider ◽  
Jung Ki Kim ◽  
Diana Hyun ◽  
Anjali Lobana ◽  
Rick Smith ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Quality Assurance ◽  
Los Angeles ◽  
Long Term Care ◽  
Medical Center ◽  
Full Time ◽  
Nursing Facilities ◽  
Geriatric Population ◽  
Nursing Facility ◽  
Term Care

AIM: The most frequent use of medications in the geriatric population occurs in skilled nursing facilities. This quality assurance study prospectively examines the high number of prescriptions ordered for long-term nursing facility residents throughout their first year after admission. METHODS: The investigators prospectively followed 101 consecutive long-term-stay older adult residents at the Joyce Eisenberg Keefer Medical Center, a nursing facility of Los Angeles Jewish Home for the Aging (LAJH) over a 12-month period. Preadmission prescriptions were obtained for 91 residents, as well as prescriptions at 1 week, 1 month, 3 months, 6 months, and 1 year after admission. The number of prescriptions by staff physicians and outside physicians was examined. RESULTS: Over the 12 months following admission, the mean number of scheduled prescriptions increased significantly from 11.1 prior to admission to 13.0 by 6 months and to 13.3 by 12 months (P-value < 0.05). The residents who were hospitalized during the 12 months of observation received significantly more scheduled, as needed, and total prescriptions than those not hospitalized. Physicians employed full time by LAJH ordered significantly fewer additional prescriptions than physicians with outside practices. The patients of the staff physicians also had fewer hospitalizations than those of the outside physicians. CONCLUSION: This quality assurance study reveals a statistically significant increase in the number of prescriptions made in a long-term care setting over a 12-month prospective study. Patients of staff physicians received fewer prescriptions and were hospitalized less frequently than patients of physicians who practiced outside LAJH.

scholarly journals The Impact of Enhanced Antimicrobial Stewardship Support on Antibiotic Starts in Long-Term Care Facilities

2020 ◽  
Vol 41 (S1) ◽  
pp. s527-s527
Author(s):  
Gabriela Andujar-Vazquez ◽  
Kirthana Beaulac ◽  
Shira Doron ◽  
David R Snydman
Keyword(s):  
Public Health ◽  
Pilot Study ◽  
Infection Control ◽  
Antimicrobial Stewardship ◽  
Long Term Care ◽  
Medical Center ◽  
Term Care ◽  
Care Facilities ◽  
The Impact

Background: The Tufts Medical Center Antimicrobial Stewardship (ASP) Team has partnered with the Massachusetts Department of Public Health (MDPH) to provide broad-based educational programs (BBEP) to long-term care facilities (LTCFs) in an effort to improve ASP and infection control practices. LTCFs have consistently expressed interest in individualized and hands-on involvement by ASP experts, yet they lack resources. The goal of this study was to determine whether “enhanced” individualized guidance provided by an ASP expert would lead to antibiotic start decreases in LTCFs participating in our pilot study. Methods: A pilot study was conducted to test the feasibility and efficacy of providing enhanced ASP and infection control practices to LTCFs. In total, 10 facilities already participating in MDPH BBEP and submitting monthly antibiotic start data were enrolled, were stratified by bed size and presence of dementia unit, and were randomized 1:1 to the “enhanced” group (defined as reviewing protocols and antibiotic start cases, providing lectures and feedback to staff and answering questions) versus the “nonenhanced” group. Antibiotic start data were validated and collected prospectively from January 2018 to July 2019, and the interventions began in April 2019. Due to staff turnover and lack of engagement, intervention was not possible in 2 of the 5 LTCFs randomized to the enhanced group, which were therefore analyzed as a nonenhanced group. An incidence rate ratios (IRRs) with 95% CIs were calculated comparing the antibiotic start rate per 1,000 resident days between periods in the pilot groups. Results: The average bed sizes for enhanced groups versus nonenhanced groups were 121 (±71.0) versus 108 (±32.8); the average resident days per facility per month were 3,415.7 (±2,131.2) versus 2,911.4 (±964.3). Comparatively, 3 facilities in the enhanced group had dementia unit versus 4 in the nonenhanced group. In the per protocol analysis, the antibiotic start rate in the enhanced group before versus after the intervention was 11.35 versus 9.41 starts per 1,000 resident days (IRR, 0.829; 95% CI, 0.794–0.865). The antibiotic start rate in the nonenhanced group before versus after the intervention was 7.90 versus 8.23 antibiotic starts per 1,000 resident days (IRR, 1.048; 95% CI, 1.007–1.089). Physician hours required for ASP for the enhanced group totaled 8.9 (±2.2) per facility per month. Conclusions: Although the number of hours required for intervention by an expert was not onerous, maintaining engagement proved difficult and in 2 facilities could not be achieved. A statistically significant 20% decrease in the antibiotic start rate was achieved in the enhanced group after interventions, potentially reflecting the benefit of enhanced ASP support by an expert.Funding: This study was funded by the Leadership in Epidemiology, Antimicrobial Stewardship, and Public Health (LEAP) fellowship training grant award from the CDC.Disclosures: None

scholarly journals Conflict Behaviours of Administrators in Long Term Care Facilities Influence Facility Ratings: SOS-Semantics of Self in Conflict™

2018 ◽  
Vol 5 (1) ◽  
pp. 711-724
Keyword(s):  
Best Practice ◽  
Long Term Care ◽  
Care Facility ◽  
Harris County ◽  
Nursing Facility ◽  
Term Care ◽  
Care Facilities ◽  
Us Government ◽  
Nursing Care Facility

Long term care (LTC) facilities, also called nursing homes, are often ripe for conflicts which cause stress for residents, their families and staff. This article presents the results of a survey showing how nursing facility administrators in Harris County, Texas, managed conflict within their facilities and how a more positive approach was consistently reflected in how their facilities were rated in US government quality consumer ratings. The concept at the centre of this study, SOS-Semantics of Self in Conflict™, recognises that the degradation of standards due to conflict is not just an event in a nursing care facility. It is a process that is heavily influenced, and in some cases exacerbated, by the way in which facility administrators react to conflict. These reactions have important broader implications for the facility’s best practice retrospectively.

Long-Term Care Spending Relevant to U.S. Medicaid Expansion

2018 ◽  
pp. 46-70
Author(s):  
Mary Schmeida ◽  
Ramona Sue McNeal
Keyword(s):  
Financial Incentives ◽  
Long Term Care ◽  
Financial Incentive ◽  
State Level ◽  
Care Program ◽  
Nursing Facility ◽  
Term Care ◽  
Care Services ◽  
The U.S

The U.S. population is living longer, placing a demand on long-term care services. In the U.S., Medicaid is the primary player in funding costly long-term care for the aged poor. As a major health reform law, the 2010 Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, Public Law 111-148, gives financial incentive for states to expand Medicaid, transitioning long-term care services from facilities toward community care. Facing other funding obligations and recent recessions, not all states expanded their Medicaid long-term care program using the financial incentives. Some states continue to spend more dollars on traditional nursing facility care despite legislation. This chapter explores why some states spend more revenue on nursing facility long-term care despite enhanced federal funding to reform, while others are spending more on home and community-based services. Regression analysis and 50 state-level data is used.

Medicaid Expansion

2018 ◽  
Vol 2 (2) ◽  
pp. 42-53
Author(s):  
Mary Schmeida ◽  
Ramona McNeal
Keyword(s):  
Long Term Care ◽  
Financial Incentive ◽  
State Level ◽  
Care Program ◽  
Nursing Facility ◽  
Term Care ◽  
Care Services ◽  
Patient Protection ◽  
Level Data

U.S. longevity is placing a demand on long-term care services for the impaired and elderly. Medicaid is the primary insurance program in funding costly long-term care for the aged poor. As a major health reform law, the 2010 Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, Public Law 111-148, gives financial incentive for states to expand Medicaid, transitioning long-term care services from costly facilities toward home and community-based care. Not all states choose to expand their Medicaid long-term care program despite the financial incentive, but instead they continue spending on nursing facility care despite the less costly option of community care. This article explores why some states have been reluctant to expand long-term care into the community. Regression analysis and 50 state-level data is used.

scholarly journals REDUCING AVOIDABLE FACILITY TRANSFERS: THE RAFT MODEL

2019 ◽  
Vol 3 (Supplement_1) ◽  
pp. S769-S770
Author(s):  
Daniel Stadler
Keyword(s):  
Medical Center ◽  
Skilled Nursing Facility ◽  
Skilled Nursing Facilities ◽  
Nursing Facilities ◽  
Nursing Facility ◽  
Term Care ◽  
Skilled Nursing ◽  
Life Sustaining Treatment ◽  
Acute Care Facilities ◽  
Dartmouth Hitchcock Medical

Abstract Reducing Avoidable Facility Transfers (RAFT) is a Dartmouth-developed program that identifies and honors “what matters most” to patients residing in skilled nursing facilities in a value-based, sustainable way. RAFT aims to reduce avoidable facility transfers of older adults from long-term care and post-acute care facilities to emergency departments (ED). Key components of RAFT presently include (1) systematically eliciting goals of care for all skilled nursing facility residents, (2) translating these goals into orders using the Physician Orders for Life-Sustaining Treatment form, (3) documenting patient wishes about hospitalization, and (4) ensuring that these wishes inform decision-making during acute crises. Data from a pilot program, begun in 2016 with three rural skilled nursing facilities in collaboration with the Dartmouth-Hitchcock Medical Center geriatric practice, showed a 35% reduction in monthly ED transfers, a 30.5% reduction in monthly hospitalizations, and a 50.7% reduction in monthly ED and hospitalization-related charges.

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