Browsing by Subject "Care transitions"

Now showing 1 - 4 of 4
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    The Avoidable Transfer Scale: A New Tool for Identifying Potentially Avoidable Hospital Transfers of Nursing Home Residents
    (Oxford University Press, 2022-05-11) Carnahan, Jennifer L.; Unroe, Kathleen T.; Evans, Russell; Klepfer, Sarah; Stump, Timothy E.; Monahan, Patrick O.; Torke, Alexia M.; Medicine, School of Medicine
    Background and objectives: Prior approaches to identifying potentially avoidable hospital transfers (PAHs) of nursing home residents have involved detailed root cause analyses that are difficult to implement and sustain due to time and resource constraints. They relied on the presence of certain conditions but did not identify the specific issues that contributed to avoidability. We developed and tested an instrument that can be implemented using review of the electronic medical record. Research design and methods: The OPTIMISTIC project was a Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services demonstration to reduce avoidable hospital transfers of nursing home residents. The OPTIMISTIC team conducted a series of root cause analyses of transfer events, leading to development of a 27-item instrument to identify common characteristics of PAHs (Stage 1). To refine the instrument, project nurses used the electronic medical record (EMR) to score the avoidability of transfers to the hospital for 154 nursing home residents from 7 nursing homes from May 2019 through January 2020, including their overall impression of whether the transfer was avoidable (Stage 2). Each transfer was rated independently by 2 nurses and assessed for interrater reliability with a kappa statistic. Results: Kappa scores ranged from -0.045 to 0.556. After removing items based on our criteria, 12 final items constituted the Avoidable Transfer Scale. To assess validity, we compared the 12-item scale to nurses' overall judgment of avoidability of the transfer. The 12-item scale scores were significantly higher for submissions rated as avoidable than those rated unavoidable by the nurses (mean 5.3 vs 2.6, p < .001). Discussion and implications: The 12-item Avoidable Transfer Scale provides an efficient approach to identify and characterize PAHs using available data from the EMR. Increased ability to quantitatively assess the avoidability of resident transfers can aid nursing homes in quality improvement initiatives to treat more acute changes in a resident's condition in place.
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    Complex Transitions from Skilled Nursing Facility to Home: Patient and Caregiver Perspectives
    (Springer, 2021) Carnahan, Jennifer L.; Inger, Lev; Rawl, Susan M.; Iloabuchi, Tochukwu C.; Clark, Daniel O.; Callahan, Christopher M.; Torke, Alexia M.; Medicine, School of Medicine
    Background: Patients who undergo the complex series of transitions from the hospital to a skilled nursing facility (SNF) back to home represent a unique patient population with multiple comorbidities and impaired functional abilities. The needs and outcomes of patients who are discharged from the hospital to SNF before returning home are understudied in care transitions scholarship. Objective: To study the patient and caregiver challenges and perspectives on transitions from the hospital to the SNF and back to home. Design: Between 48 h and 1 week after discharge from the SNF, semi-structured interviews were performed with a convenience sample of patients and caregivers in their homes. Within 1 to 2 weeks after the baseline interview, follow-up interviews were performed over the phone. Participants: A total of 39 interviewees comprised older adults undergoing the series of transitions from hospital to skilled nursing facility to home and their informal caregivers. Main measures: A constructionist, grounded-theory approach was used to code the interviews, identify major themes and subthemes, and develop a theoretical model explaining the outcomes of the SNF to home transition. Key results: The mean age of the patients was 76.6 years and 64.8 years for the caregivers. Four major themes were identified: comforts of home, information needs, post-SNF care, and independence. Patients noted an extended time away from home and were motivated to return to and remain in the home. Information needs were variably met and affected post-SNF care, including medication management, appointments, and therapy gains and setbacks. Interviewees identified independent function at home as the most important outcome of the transition home. Conclusions: Post-SNF in home support is needed rapidly after discharge from the SNF to prevent adverse outcomes. In-home support needs to be highly individualized based on a patient's and caregiver's unique situation and needs.
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    Research Needs for Effective Transition in Lifelong Care of Congenital Genitourinary Conditions: A Workshop Sponsored by the National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases
    (Elsevier, 2017-05) Hsieh, Michael; Wood, Hadley M.; Dicianno, Brad E.; Dosa, Nienke P.; Gomez-Lobo, Veronica; Mattoo, Tej K.; Misseri, Rosalia; Norton, Jenna M.; Sawin, Kathleen J.; Scal, Peter; Wright, James E.; Star, Robert A.; Bavendam, Tamara; Urology, School of Medicine
    Over the last 5 decades, health-care advances have yielded quantum improvements in the life expectancy of individuals with congenital genitourinary conditions (CGCs), leading to a crisis of care. Many individuals with CGC enter adulthood unprepared to manage their condition. Pediatric CGC specialists lack training to manage adulthood-related health-care issues, whereas adult genitourinary specialists lack training within the context of CGCs. To address these challenges, the National Institutes of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases convened individuals with CGCs and experts from a variety of fields to identify research needs to improve transitional urology care. This paper outlines identified research needs.
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    Transitions From Skilled Nursing Facility to Home: The Relationship of Early Outpatient Care to Hospital Readmission
    (Elsevier, 2017-10-01) Carnahan, Jennifer L.; Slaven, James E.; Callahan, Christopher M.; Tu, Wanzhu; Torke, Alexia M.; Medicine, School of Medicine
    BACKGROUND: Many adults are discharged to skilled nursing facilities (SNFs) prior to returning home from the hospital. Patient characteristics and factors that can help to prevent postdischarge adverse outcomes are poorly understood. OBJECTIVE: To identify whether early post-SNF discharge care reduces likelihood of 30-day hospital readmissions. DESIGN: Secondary data analysis using the Electronic Medical Record, Medicare, Medicaid and the Minimum Data Set. PARTICIPANTS/SETTING: Older (age > 65 years), community-dwelling adults admitted to a safety net hospital in the Midwest for 3 or more nights and discharged home after an SNF stay (n = 1543). MEASUREMENTS: The primary outcome was hospital readmission within 30 days of SNF discharge. The primary independent variables were either a home health visit or an outpatient provider visit within a week of SNF discharge. RESULTS: Out of 8754 community-dwelling, hospitalized older adults, 3025 (34.6%) were discharged to an SNF, of whom 1543 (51.0%) returned home. Among the SNF to home group, a home health visit within a week of SNF discharge was associated with reduced hazard of 30-day hospital readmission [adjusted hazard ratio (aHR) 0.61, P < .001] but outpatient provider visits were not associated with reduced risk of hospital readmission (aHR = 0.67, P = .821). CONCLUSION: For patients discharged from an SNF to home, the finding that a home health visit within a week of discharge is associated with reduced hazard of 30-day hospital readmissions suggests a potential avenue for intervention.