Sascha G. Schmidt

Determining the quality of long-term care. A comparative analysis of transparency criteria, resident-related indicators, and staff assessment

INTRODUCTION From 2009, the quality of care in nursing homes in Germany is inspected, rated, and publicized. This study investigates the association between staff-perceived nursing quality, clinical quality indicators, and ratings of health insurance medical services based on the transparency of stationary care agreement (PTVS). METHODS This was a cross-sectional study merging publicly reported data, clinical quality indicators of a national health provider system, and data from staff surveys. Data from 83 nursing homes were adjusted for sample size, age, and care level and analyzed using Kendalls tau coefficients and scatter plots. RESULTS There were pronounced differences in staff-perceived nursing quality and some of the clinical indicators between facilities that were not detected by the PTVS. There was a weak association between staff-perceived quality and care quality rated by external inspections. No associations were found between the PTVS and clinical quality indicators. CONCLUSIONS Differences between nursing home providers were detected to varying degrees by the three approaches and were if at all weakly associated. Given the aims followed by public reporting initiatives of nursing home providers, the results stress the importance of revising the PTVS.

Messung der Pflegequalität in der Langzeitpflege@@@Determining the quality of long-term care: Eine vergleichende Analyse von Pflegetransparenzkriterien, bewohnerbezogenen Indikatoren und Beurteilungen der Mitarbeiter@@@A comparative analysis of transparency criteria, resident-related indicators, and staff assessment

INTRODUCTION From 2009, the quality of care in nursing homes in Germany is inspected, rated, and publicized. This study investigates the association between staff-perceived nursing quality, clinical quality indicators, and ratings of health insurance medical services based on the transparency of stationary care agreement (PTVS). METHODS This was a cross-sectional study merging publicly reported data, clinical quality indicators of a national health provider system, and data from staff surveys. Data from 83 nursing homes were adjusted for sample size, age, and care level and analyzed using Kendalls tau coefficients and scatter plots. RESULTS There were pronounced differences in staff-perceived nursing quality and some of the clinical indicators between facilities that were not detected by the PTVS. There was a weak association between staff-perceived quality and care quality rated by external inspections. No associations were found between the PTVS and clinical quality indicators. CONCLUSIONS Differences between nursing home providers were detected to varying degrees by the three approaches and were if at all weakly associated. Given the aims followed by public reporting initiatives of nursing home providers, the results stress the importance of revising the PTVS.

Messung der Pflegequalität in der Langzeitpflege

INTRODUCTION From 2009, the quality of care in nursing homes in Germany is inspected, rated, and publicized. This study investigates the association between staff-perceived nursing quality, clinical quality indicators, and ratings of health insurance medical services based on the transparency of stationary care agreement (PTVS). METHODS This was a cross-sectional study merging publicly reported data, clinical quality indicators of a national health provider system, and data from staff surveys. Data from 83 nursing homes were adjusted for sample size, age, and care level and analyzed using Kendalls tau coefficients and scatter plots. RESULTS There were pronounced differences in staff-perceived nursing quality and some of the clinical indicators between facilities that were not detected by the PTVS. There was a weak association between staff-perceived quality and care quality rated by external inspections. No associations were found between the PTVS and clinical quality indicators. CONCLUSIONS Differences between nursing home providers were detected to varying degrees by the three approaches and were if at all weakly associated. Given the aims followed by public reporting initiatives of nursing home providers, the results stress the importance of revising the PTVS.