Trends in the Use of Skilled Nursing Facility and Home Health Care Under the Hospital Readmissions Reduction Program: An Interrupted Time-series Analysis

Background: Medicare’s Hospital Readmission Reduction Program (HRRP) penalizes hospitals with elevated 30-day readmission rates for acute myocardial infarction (AMI), heart failure (HF), or pneumonia. To reduce readmissions, hospitals may have increased referrals to skilled nursing facilities (SNFs) and home health care. Research Design: Outcomes included 30-day postdischarge utilization of SNF and home health care, including any use as well as days of use. Subjects included Medicare fee-for-service beneficiaries aged 65 years and older who were admitted with AMI, HF, or pneumonia to hospitals subject to the HRRP. Using an interrupted time-series analysis, we compared utilization rates observed after the announcement of the HRRP (April 2010 through September 2012) and after the imposition of penalties (October 2012 through September 2014) with projected utilization rates that accounted for pre-HRRP trends (January 2008 through March 2010). Models included patient characteristics and hospital fixed effects. Results: For AMI and HF, utilization of SNF and home health care remained stable overall. For pneumonia, observed utilization of any SNF care increased modestly (1.0%, P
Source: Medical Care - Category: Health Management Tags: Original Articles Source Type: research