Objective
To examine associations between nursing homes’ quality and publication of the Nursing Home Compare quality report card.
Data Sources/Study Settings
Primary and secondary data for 2001–2003:701 survey responses of a random sample of nursing homes; the Minimum Data Set (MDS) with information about all residents in these facilities, and the Nursing Home Compare published QM scores.
Study Design
Survey responses provided information on twenty specific actions taken by nursing homes in response to publication of the report card. MDS data were used to calculate five quality measures (QMs) for each quarter, covering a period before and following publication of the report. Statistical regression techniques were used to determine if trends in these QMs have changed following publication of the report card in relation to actions undertaken by nursing homes.
Principal findings
Two of the five QMs show improvement following publication. Several specific actions were associated with these improvements.
Conclusions
Publication of the Nursing Home Compare report card was associated with improvement in some but not all reported dimensions of quality. This suggests that report cards may motivate providers to improve quality, but it also raises questions as to why it was not effective across the board.
scite is a Brooklyn-based organization that helps researchers better discover and understand research articles through Smart Citations–citations that display the context of the citation and describe whether the article provides supporting or contrasting evidence. scite is used by students and researchers from around the world and is funded in part by the National Science Foundation and the National Institute on Drug Abuse of the National Institutes of Health.