Avalere: Nursing Home Stays Declining Due To Declining Hospital Admissions

Avalere Health says the number of days that Medicare fee-for-service beneficiaries spend in nursing homes has been dropping since 2009, and that decline appears to be driven by fewer hospital admissions and more frequent observation stays. Consulting firm Plante Moran, however, attributed the change to an increase in hospital referrals to home health and the growth of managed care and value-based pay models. Whatever the cause, everyone says the aging population is expected to eventually counteract the decline in nursing...