Health Care Use Before and After Entering Long-Term Services and Supports. (January 2018)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Newcomer, Robert; Harrington, Charlene; Hulett, Denis; Kang, Taewoon; Ko, Michelle; Bindman, Andrew
• Is Part Of: Journal of applied gerontology. Volume 37:Number 1(2018)
• Page Start: 26
• Page End: 40
• Publication Date: 2018-01
• Subjects: nursing facilities -- home and community-based services -- hospital use -- emergency department use -- personal care; Gerontology -- Periodicals; 362.6
• DOI: 10.1177/0733464816641393
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 0733-4648

Abstract

Objective: We examined the health care utilization patterns of Medicare and Medicaid enrollees (MMEs) before and after initiating long-term care in the community or after admission to a nursing facility (NF).Method: We used administrative data to compare hospitalizations, emergency department (ED) visits, and post-acute care use of MMEs receiving long-term care in California in 2006-2007.Results: MMEs admitted to a NF for long-term care had much greater use of hospitalizations, ED visits, and post-acute care before initiating long-term care than those entering long-term care in the community. Post-entry, community service users had less than half the average monthly hospital and ED use compared with the NF cohort.Conclusion: Hospital and ED use prior to and following NF and personal care program entry suggest a need for reassessing the monitoring of these high-risk populations and the communication between health and community care providers.