PAC more important than hospital for hip fractures

Post-acute care has a greater impact on recovery than the hospital following a hip fracture recovery, according to a new study.

Nursing homes has three times more variation in a patient’s probability of dying at 30 days than hospital factors, seven times more variation in the probability of dying at 180 days and eight times more variation in the probability of dying or being newly unable to walk at 180 days.

“These results highlight the major impact that post-acute care has on basic outcomes such as survival and walking ability among this patient population,” said lead author Mark D. Neuman, MD, MSc, assistant professor of anesthesiology and critical care at the University of Pennsylvania Perelman School of Medicine.

Researchers at Penn Medicine analyzed more than 42,000 Medicare patients and found that while patient characteristics represented the principal determinants of outcomes after hip fractures, some nursing home statistics were associated with outcomes, including bed count, chain membership and performance on selected quality measures.

Nicole Stempak

Nicole was Senior Editor at I Advance Senior Care and Long Term Living Magazine 2015-2017. She has a Journalism degree from Kent State University and is finalizing a master’s degree in Information Architecture and Management. She has extensive studies in the digital user experience and in branding online media. She has worked as an editor and writer for various B2B publications, including Business Finance.