Trends in antipsychotic prescribing among long-term care residents receiving hospice care.

IMPORTANCE: The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services' (CMS) National Partnership to Improve Dementia Care in Nursing Homes ("CMS National Partnership") focuses on reducing antipsychotic prescribing to long-term care residents. Hospice enrollment is not an exclusionary condition for the antipsychotic quality measure reported by CMS. It is unclear how prescribing in hospice may have been impacted by the initiative. OBJECTIVE: Estimate the association of the CMS National Partnership with trends in antipsychotic prescribing among long-term care residents in hospice. DESIGN: Interrupted time-series analysis of a 100% Minimum Data Set sample with linked hospice claims from 2011 to 2017. SETTING: Long-term care nursing facilities. PARTICIPANTS: Older adults ≥65 residing in long-term care (n = 3,741,379) and limited to those enrolled in hospice (n = 821,610). MAIN OUTCOME: Quarterly prevalence of antipsychotic and other psychotropic (antianxiety, hypnotic, antidepressant) use among long-term care residents; overall and among residents with dementia, stratified by hospice enrollment. RESULTS: From 2011 to 2017, parallel declines in antipsychotic prescribing were observed among long-term care residents enrolled and not enrolled in hospice (hospice: decline from 26.8% to 18.7%; non-hospice: decline from 23.0% to 14.4%). Following the 2012 CMS National Partnership, quarterly rates of antipsychotic prescribing declined significantly for both residents enrolled and not enrolled in hospice care. Declines in antipsychotic prescribing were greater for residents with dementia, with similar rates among residents enrolled and not enrolled in hospice. Among residents with dementia enrolled in hospice, use of other psychotropic medication classes including antianxiety, antidepressant, and hypnotic use remained relatively stable over time. CONCLUSIONS AND RELEVANCE: Declines in antipsychotic prescribing during the CMS National Partnership occurred among long-term care residents in hospice, where use may be deemed clinically appropriate. Nursing homes are an important location for the provision of dementia end-of-life care and the drivers of potentially unintended reductions in antipsychotic use merits further investigation.

Lessons learned from frontline skilled nursing facility staff regarding COVID-19 vaccine hesitancy.

BACKGROUND: Presently a median of 37.5% of the U.S. skilled nursing facility (SNF) workforce has been vaccinated for COVID-19. It is essential to understand vaccine hesitancy among SNF workers to inform vaccine campaigns going forward. OBJECTIVE: To describe the concerns raised among healthcare workers and staff from SNFs during town hall meetings. DESIGN: Sixty-three SNFs from four corporations were invited to send Opinion Leaders, outspoken staff from nursing, nurse aid, dietary, housekeeping or recreational therapy, to attend a 1-h virtual town hall meeting. Meetings used a similar format where the moderator solicited concerns that the attendees themselves had or had heard from others in the facility about the COVID-19 vaccine. Physicians and moderators used personal stories to address concerns and reaffirmed positive emotions. SETTING: Twenty-six video town hall meetings with SNF staff. PARTICIPANTS: Healthcare workers and staff, with physicians serving as content experts. MEASUREMENT: Questions and comments about the COVID-19 vaccines noted by physicians. RESULTS: One hundred and ninety three staff from 50 facilities participated in 26 meetings between December 30, 2020 and January 15, 2021. Most staff reported getting information about the vaccine from friends or social media. Concerns about how rapidly the vaccines were developed and side effects, including infertility or pregnancy related concerns, were frequently raised. There were no differences in concerns raised by discipline. Questions about returning to prior activities after being vaccinated were common and offered the opportunity to build on positive emotions to reduce vaccine hesitancy. CONCLUSIONS: Misinformation about the COVID-19 vaccine was widespread among SNF staff. Sharing positive emotions and stories may be more effective than sharing data when attempting to reduce vaccine hesitancy in SNF staff.

Developments in the Market for Assisted Living: Residential Care Availability in 2017.

OBJECTIVES: Describe how the availability of assisted living (AL) and dementia-specific AL vary across counties and correlate with demographic and socioeconomic characteristics. DESIGN: Maps, univariate statistics, and standardized mean differences show the differences between counties with high and low levels of AL market penetration, and between counties with and without dementia-specific AL. SETTING AND PARTICIPANTS: Data collected from state agencies on licensed AL communities, capacity, and geographic location, and population characteristics from the Area Health Resource file. We include novel and previously undescribed data on dementia-specific AL licenses in 21 states. MEASURES: AL market penetration is reported as the number of AL units or beds per 1000 persons over age 65 years in a county. RESULTS: In comparison to counties with the lowest AL penetration, high-penetration counties had higher high school and college education attainment (mean 25.3% vs 18.5%) and median annual income ($56,000 vs $46,800), and lower poverty (12.8% vs 17.3%) and unemployment rates (3.9% vs 5.1%). Compared to counties with AL but no dementia-specific care, counties with dementia care had substantially higher college attainment (24.6% vs 17.7%) and had higher urbanity index (3.8 vs 5.6 on a 1-9 scale, 1 most urban). Counties with dementia care also had, on average, 16% more in median household income ($54,200 vs $46,400) and 40% greater home value ($159,800 vs. $113,600). CONCLUSIONS AND IMPLICATIONS: Large socioeconomic disparities persist among counties without any AL or low penetration of AL in their borders in comparison to those with high AL penetration, as well as between counties with and without dementia-specific AL communities. There may be a mismatch in need and availability of residential care options for older adults with Alzheimer's disease and related dementias that contributes to the disproportionate share of racial/ethnic minorities with dementia in nursing homes. Lack of available AL beds in the communities where Medicaid individuals reside could make rebalancing efforts doubly difficult, in that Medicaid enrollees may be reluctant to move out of their neighborhoods.

Quality of Post-Acute Care in Skilled Nursing Facilities That Disproportionately Serve Hispanics With Dementia.

OBJECTIVES: As the number of Hispanics with dementia continues to increase, greater use of post-acute care in nursing home settings will be required. Little is known about the quality of skilled nursing facilities (SNFs) that disproportionately serve Hispanic patients with dementia and whether the quality of SNF care varies by the concentration of Medicare Advantage (MA) patients with dementia admitted to these SNFs. DESIGN: Cross-sectional study using 2016 data from Medicare certified providers. SETTING AND PARTICIPANTS: Our cohort included 177,396 beneficiaries with probable dementia from 8884 SNFs. METHODS: We examined facility-level quality of care among facilities with high and low proportions of Hispanic beneficiaries with probable dementia enrolled in MA and fee-for-service (FFS) using data from Medicare-certified providers. Three facility-level measures were used to assess quality of care: (1) 30-day rehospitalization rate; (2) successful discharge from the facility to the community; and (3) Medicare 5-star quality ratings. RESULTS: About 20% of residents were admitted to 1615 facilities with a resident population that was more than 15% Hispanic. Facilities with a higher share of Hispanic residents had a lower proportion of 4- or 5-star facilities by an average of 14% to 15% compared with facilities with little to no Hispanics. In addition, these facilities had a 1% higher readmission rate. There were also some differences in the quality of facilities with high (>26.5%) and low (<26.5%) proportions of MA beneficiaries. On average, SNFs with a high concentration of MA patients have lower readmission rates and higher successful discharge, but lower star ratings. CONCLUSIONS AND IMPLICATIONS: Achieving better quality of care for people with dementia may require efforts to improve the quality of care among facilities with a high concentration of Hispanic residents.

Inappropriate Antipsychotic Use: The Impact of Nursing Home Socioeconomic and Racial Composition.

OBJECTIVES: Previous research suggests black nursing home (NH) residents are more likely to receive inappropriate antipsychotics. Our aim was to examine how NH characteristics, particularly the racial and socioeconomic composition of residents, are associated with the inappropriate use of antipsychotics. DESIGN: This study used a longitudinal approach to examine national data from Long-Term Care: Facts on Care in the US (LTCFocUS.org) between 2000 and 2015. We used a multivariate linear regression model with year and state fixed effects to estimate the prevalence of inappropriate antipsychotic use at the NH level. SETTING: Free-standing NHs in the United States. PARTICIPANTS: The sample consisted of 12 964 NHs. MEASUREMENTS: The outcome variable was inappropriate antipsychotic use at the facility level. The primary indicator variables were whether a facility had high proportions of black residents and the percentage of residents with Medicaid as their primary payer. RESULTS: NHs with high and low proportions of blacks had similar rates of antipsychotic use in the unadjusted analyses. NHs with high proportions of black residents had significantly lower rates of inappropriate antipsychotic use (ß = -2; P < .001) in the adjusted analyses. Facilities with high proportions of Medicaid-reliant residents had higher proportions of inappropriate use (ß = .04; P < .001). CONCLUSION: Findings from this study indicate a decline in the use of antipsychotics. Although findings from this study indicated facilities with higher proportions of blacks had lower inappropriate antipsychotic use, facility-level socioeconomic disparities continued to persist among NHs. Policy interventions that focus on reimbursement need to be considered to promote reductions in antipsychotic use, specifically among Medicaid-reliant NHs. J Am Geriatr Soc 68:630-636, 2020.

Thirty-Year Trends in Nursing Home Composition and Quality Since the Passage of the Omnibus Reconciliation Act.

OBJECTIVE: In 1987, the Omnibus Reconciliation Act (OBRA) called for a dramatic overhaul of the nursing home (NH) quality assurance system. This study examines trends in facility, resident, and quality characteristics since passage of that legislation. METHODS: We conducted univariate analyses of national data on US NHs from 3 sources: (1) the 1985 National Nursing Home Survey (NNHS), (2) the 1992-2015 Online Survey Certification and Reporting (OSCAR) Data, and (3) LTCfocUS data for 2000-2015. We examined changes in NH characteristics, resident composition, and quality. SETTING AND PARTICIPANTS: US NH facilities and residents between 1985 and 2015. RESULTS: The proportion of NHs that are Medicare and Medicaid certified, members of chains, and operating not-for-profit has increased over the past 30 years. There have also been reductions in occupancy and increases in the share of residents who are racial or ethnic minorities, admitted for post-acute care, in need of physical assistance with daily activities, primarily supported by Medicare, and diagnosed with a psychiatric condition such as schizophrenia. With regard to NH quality, direct care staffing levels have increased. The proportion of residents physically restrained has decreased dramatically, coupled with changes in inappropriate antipsychotic (chemical restraint) use. CONCLUSIONS AND IMPLICATIONS: Together with changes in the long-term care market, the NHs of today look very different from NHs 30 years ago. The 30th anniversary of OBRA provides a unique opportunity to reflect, consider what we have learned, and think about the future of this and other sectors of long-term care.

Perspectives of Medicare Advantage Plan Representatives on Addressing Social Determinants of Health in Response to the CHRONIC Care Act.

Importance: The passage of the Creating High-Quality Results and Outcomes Necessary to Improve Chronic (CHRONIC) Care Act in 2018 allows Medicare Advantage (MA) plans, which enroll more than one-third of Medicare beneficiaries, greater flexibility to address members' social determinants of health (SDOH) through supplemental benefits. Objective: To understand MA plan representatives' perspectives on the importance of addressing members' SDOH and their responses to the passage of the CHRONIC Care Act. Design, Setting, and Participants: This semistructured qualitative interview study conducted via telephone from July 6, 2018, to November 7, 2018, included participants from 17 MA plans that collectively enrolled more than 13 million MA members (>65% of the total MA market). Data analysis was conducted from September 18, 2018, to December 13, 2018. Main Outcomes and Measures: Audio-recorded interviews were transcribed and then analyzed using a modified content analysis approach to identify major themes and subthemes. Results: Thirty-eight participants representing 17 MA plans varying in region, star rating, and size were interviewed. Analysis of interviews revealed 3 key themes. The first theme was that participants increasingly recognize the value of addressing members' SDOH. The second theme was that participants had different perspectives on whether MA plans should directly address SDOH and how to do so. While some reported that they were taking advantage of the increased flexibility provided by the CHRONIC Care Act to design new benefits or partner with community-based organizations, others indicated that it was outside of their purview to directly address members' SDOH. The third theme was that participants described complex decision-making around how to provide supplemental benefits, including a need for evidence, return on investment, strong community partnerships, and guidance from the US Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services. Conclusions and Relevance: These findings suggest that the changes in MA plans' benefit packages in response to the CHRONIC Care Act and their efforts to address SDOH will vary. Therefore, it is likely that MA enrollees will be differentially affected by the implementation of the CHRONIC Care Act.

To be young, Black, and living with breast cancer: a systematic review of health-related quality of life in young Black breast cancer survivors.

PURPOSE: Compared with young White women, young Black women are more likely to present with aggressive breast cancer (BC) subtypes that are potentially linked to worse health-related quality of life (HRQOL); however, there is limited consensus regarding HRQOL needs among young Black BC survivors. Employing Ferrell's framework on QOL in BC (i.e., physical, psychological, social, and spiritual well-being), we conducted a systematic review on HRQOL among Black BC survivors aged <50 years and proposed recommendations for advancing HRQOL research and care for this population. METHODS: Literature searches were conducted in MEDLINE/PubMed, EMBASE, CINAHL, and PsycINFO to identify relevant articles published from 1995 to 2015. Abstracts and full-text articles were screened using predetermined inclusion/exclusion criteria and evaluated for quality. RESULTS: A total of 2533 articles were identified, but six met eligibility criteria. Most studies examined multiple HRQOL domains, with the psychological domain most represented. Compared with their older, White, and BC-free counterparts, young Black BC survivors reported greater fear of dying, unmet supportive care needs, financial distress, and lower physical/functional well-being. However, spiritual well-being appeared favorable for young Black survivors. Research gaps include the absence of longitudinal studies and under-representation of studies examining physical, social, and particularly, spiritual HRQOL in young Black BC survivors. CONCLUSIONS: Young Black BC survivors generally experience suboptimal HRQOL after BC diagnosis. As few studies have reported on HRQOL among this group, future research and oncology care should prioritize young Black women in ways that recognize their unique concerns, in order to ensure better HRQOL outcomes both during and after treatment.