Nursing Homes Send More Medicaid to Hospitals
73 Views
A new study shows that individuals enrolled in Medicaid are 27 percent more likely to be sent to the hospital than individuals with private insurance – decisions that often result in higher costs of care and poor health outcomes. The inference is that nursing homes want to have their beds filled with more profitable patients and this is one-way to make room.
“Nursing homes have an incentive to hospitalize some residents more often than others,” said Helena Temkin-Greener, Ph.D., M.P.H., senior author of the study and associate professor of Community and Preventive Medicine at the University of Rochester Medical Center.
Another study published in the journal Medical Care Research and Review looks at hospitalization rates within individual nursing homes to see if patients with Medicaid are treated differently from those with private insurance.
Said Shubing Cai, Ph.D., lead author of the study and investigator at Brown University: “While we know that nursing homes tend to provide similar quality of care to all residents, hospitalization decisions are often different from the decisions involved in the provision of daily care and have a significant impact on the long-term health of residents.”
While Medicaid and private insurance pay for nursing home-related care, costs associated with hospitalization are covered by Medicare – the federal health insurance program for the elderly. Nursing homes have a strong financial incentive to send sick Medicaid patients to the hospital where the cost will be absorbed by Medicare and the hospital.
Hospitals and nursing homes are under intense pressure to reduce hospital re-admissions so some of these trends might reverse. But you also have to ask yourself whether or not your loved one is really in the best place for care should they develop something that needs advanced care. All of this as a way of saying keep this in the back of your mind if mom or dad are Medicaid recipients residing in nursing homes.
You may be interested
Mobile Health
12 views
Mobile Health
12 views
Care On The Road: How Telemedicine Can Reach Truck Drivers
Larry Alton - August 21, 2017Telemedicine is considered a powerful tool for individuals living in rural areas, far from adequate services or in need of…
eHealth
3 views
eHealth
3 views
Where Is The Balance? Pushing Back Against Consumer Health Tech
Larry Alton - August 18, 2017When Republican Congressman Jason Chaffetz glibly remarked that Americans struggling to afford insurance should choose between that and their smartphones,…
eHealth
365 views
eHealth
365 views
What to Look for in Patient Solutions Software
Robert Cordray - August 17, 2017The medical sector is one area where technology has had a significant impact, largely by providing tools that simplify many…
Featured Post
Trending Posts
1
Business
89 views
89 views
Benefit from ACA Boost to the Consumer Medical Device Market
Jonathan Catley - January 21, 20142
Business
81 views
81 views
