Commonwealth Fund Scorecard Shows Improvements in Nursing Homes

The 2016 edition of The Commonwealth Fund’s Scorecard on Local Health System Performance assesses the state of health care in more than 300 U.S. communities from 2011 through 2014, a period when the Affordable Care Act was being implemented across the country. In comparing health care access, quality, avoidable hospital use, costs of care, and health outcomes, the Scorecard shows that many U.S. communities experienced improvements: fewer uninsured residents, better quality of care in doctors’ offices, hospitals, and nursing homes, more efficient use of hospitals, and fewer deaths from treatable cancers, among other gains.

Specifically the report showed improvements in the following areas for nursing homes:

• Percent of high-risk nursing home residents with pressure sores.
• Percent of long-stay nursing home residents prescribed an antipsychotic medication.
• Percent of short-stay nursing home residents readmitted within 30 days of hospital discharge to the nursing home.
• Percent of long-stay nursing home residents hospitalized within a six-month period.

Also, the report noted things such as national quality reporting initiatives, such as Medicare’s Hospital Compare, Nursing Home Compare, and related websites, that shine a spotlight on treatment provided in hospital, post-acute, and long-term care settings—all of which have seen clear gains in recent years according to the scorecard.

Click here to search the scorecard for your local area