Predictable nursing home inspection schedules are associated with higher patient mortality, according to a paper published Dec. 15 in Social Science Research Network.
Researchers from the University of California Los Angeles, the University of Chicago and Bethlehem, Pa.-based Lehigh University studied nursing home administrative data to identify potential correlations between staffing levels, care quality and health outcomes, and inspection schedules.
Here are three notes on the analysis:
- Nursing homes were found to reduce staffing levels after an inspection occurs, when the chance of inspection is lowest. Staffing levels ramped up as time passed and the chance of inspection grew.
- Patient mortality rates rose when inspection risk and staffing levels were lower.
Researchers said that due to the predictability of inspection schedules, mortality rates and staffing levels would improve as the next potential inspection grew closer. - Making inspection timing more unpredictable would improve nursing home patient mortality rates by about 12%, while creating less administrative burden and cost than simply increasing inspection frequency, according to the study.
Read the full paper here.
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