The introduction of the Consumer Assessment of Healthcare Providers and Systems (CAHPS), a family of survey instruments designed to capture and report people's experiences obtaining health care could soon add satisfaction as a consistent dimension of quality that skilled nursing facilities (SNFs) are required to assess and report. The SNF setting…

Purpose: To describe annual care transition patterns across residential and health care settings and assess consistency in care transition patterns across years. Design and Methods: This retrospective cohort study used the Medicare Current Beneficiary Survey (2000-2005). The sample comprised beneficiaries aged 65 years and older (N = 57,684…

Hospitalization of nursing home residents can be futile as well as costly, and now evidence indicates that treating nursing home residents in place produces better outcomes for some conditions. We examined facility organizational characteristics that previous research showed are associated with potentially avoidable hospital transfers and with…

Context: Scope of practice is an important factor in both training and recruiting rural family physicians. Purpose: To assess rural Idaho family physicians' scope of practice and to examine variations in scope of practice across variables such as gender, age and employment status. Methods: A survey instrument was developed based on a literature…

Purpose: The objectives of this study were to develop measures of end-of-life (EOL) care processes in nursing homes and to validate the instrument for measuring them. Design and Methods: A survey of directors of nursing was conducted in 608 eligible nursing homes in New York State. Responses were obtained from 313 (51.5% response rate) facilities.…

This article provides a framework for understanding how long-term care (LTC) research contributes to policy, develops a typology of research contributions to policy with examples of each type, and suggests ways to ensure that contributions continue in the future. The article draws on in-depth interviews with LTC experts working at the interface…

Continuing education for health service professionals operating nursing homes is the subject of this report. Reasons for the growth and development of nursing homes are discussed, and licensure is defined. Methodologies and techniques employed in Missouri and other states are identified, after a background report on the Missouri Nursing Home…

Nursing personnel demands and resources in North Dakota were assessed as part of a statewide nursing study. The objective was to determine the number and types of nurses needed in 1984 and 1986, and to compare anticipated nursing personnel supply and demand. The projections for the state as a whole and for regions within the state were designed to…