Nursing home costs and quality of care: is there a tradeoff?
Nursing homes are facing increased environmental pressures to improve quality of care. However, this increased emphasis on quality comes at a time when nursing homes are facing revenue constraints as a result of the repeal of the Boren amendment, increased reimbursement based on prospective payment systems and widespread cuts to state Medicaid funding. This represents a strong financial incentive to control costs and there are concerns that these cost-containment measures may lead to a lower quality of care in nursing homes. In this article, the scientific literature on the cost-quality relationship in the nursing home industry is reviewed.
Weech-Maldonado
Robert
R
Department of Health Policy & Administration, The Pennsylvania State University, 116 Henderson Building, University Park, PA 16801, USA. Rxw25@psu.edu
Mor
Vince
V
Oluwole
Adetokunbo
A