Potentially Avoidable Hospitalizations of Medicare- and Medicaid-Eligible Nursing Facility Residents

High occurrences of patient transfers from nursing facilities to hospitals for potentially preventable conditions could indicate poor quality of care. Prior OIG work identified a nursing facility with a high rate of Medicaid recipient transfers to hospitals for a urinary tract infection (UTI), a condition that is often preventable and treatable in the nursing facility setting without requiring hospitalization. The audit disclosed that the nursing facility often did not provide UTI prevention and detection services in accordance with its residents' care plans, increasing the residents' risk for infection and hospitalization. We will review nursing homes with high rates of patient transfers to hospitals for potentially preventable conditions and determine whether the nursing homes provided services to residents in accordance with their care plans (42 CFR § 483.25(d)).

Announced or Revised	Agency	Title	Component	Report Number(s)	Expected Issue Date (FY)
Completed	Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services	Potentially Avoidable Hospitalizations of Medicare- and Medicaid-Eligible Nursing Facility Residents	Office of Audit Services	A-06-17-02002; W-00-17-35792	2019