Original Study
Is There a Link between Nursing Home Reported Quality and COVID-19 Cases? Evidence from California Skilled Nursing Facilities

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jamda.2020.06.016Get rights and content
Under a Creative Commons license
open access

Abstract

Objectives

During the Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) outbreak in the United States, nursing homes became the hotbed for the spread of COVID-19. States developed different policies to mitigate the COVID-19 risks at nursing homes, including limiting nursing home visitation and mandating staff screening. The purpose of this study is to examine whether COVID-19 cases and deaths are related to the nursing home reported quality.

Design

We combined the COVID-19 data reported by the California Department of Public Health, quality ratings provided by Nursing Home Compare, and patient racial information from Long-Term Care Focus to examine the association between nursing home reported quality and COVID-19 cases and deaths.

Settings and Participants

Cross-sectional data from 1223 California skilled nursing facilities with reported quality and longitudinal data of COVID-19 cases were used.

Methods

The dependent variable is COVID-19 residents’ cases and deaths. The main independent variable is nursing home reported quality. Nursing home ownership, size, years of operation, and patient race composition are also included.

Results

Nursing home star ratings and greater percentage of residents from different racial and ethnicity groups were significantly (P < .01) related to increased probability of having a COVID-19 residents’ case or death.

Conclusions and Implications

Nursing homes with 5-star ratings were less likely to have COVID-19 cases and deaths after adjusting for nursing home size and patient race proportion.

Keywords

COVID-19
nursing home
quality ratings

Cited by (0)

The authors declare no conflicts of interest.