Current Projects

Nursing Facility Quality Measures in Pay for Performance Model (funded by State of Minnesota Department of Human Services) The University of Minnesota has been asked by the Minnesota Department of Human Services to provide: a) consultation and recommendations for refinements of nursing facility quality measures to be used in a pay for performance model and public reporting of nursing facility performance, and b) analysis of low need nursing facility residents and development of a recommendation for a performance measure designed to encourage diversions and discharges from nursing facilities.

Research of Program Management Techniques Taken by States to Rebalance Their Long Term Care System (funded by Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services) States have made longstanding efforts to develop a greater array of LTC and supportive services in keeping with the widespread consumer preference for HCBS and aversion for institutional life and care. Despite their genuine efforts to redirect resources and expand HCBS, progress has been slower than desirable. Because institutional expenditures subsume state budgets, few resources remain for community care. This project identifies and describes management solutions for states to overcome such barriers and gain the programmatic and financial accountability needed to control costs and assure quality while reorienting services to HCBS.

Shared Decision Making for LTC: Pilot Phase (funded by Retirement Research Foundation) Seed grant to begin work on an important approach to helping older persons and their families make better long-term care decisions.


Completed Projects

Building the Foundation for a Systematic Consumer Long-term Care Decision Making Tool (funded by Minnesota Board on Aging) The University of Minnesota Center on Aging will design a systematic assessment tool to structure the long-term care decision-making process for older adults. The CoA will conduct quantitative research required for development of the automated assessment for consumers and build a web-based decision-making tool to be incorporated in the Minnesotahelp.info website.

Chronic Illness Care (funded by Minnesota Chair in Long-term Care and Aging, University of Minnesota) Address the inadequacies of chronic illness care and recommend strategies for improvement. A workgroup of U of M faculty is examining: the concept of chronic illness, prevention, and health promotion; cultural and social factors that affect the incidence and course of chronic illness; management of chronic illness across the continuum of care; and the public policy agenda.

Disabling Disparities: Variations in the Treatment of Children, Adults, and Older Adults with Disabilities. This project studied relatively unexplored disability issues regarding the differences in how disability is viewed and managed across the age spectrum and in the ways in which our society deals with and responds to disabilities in diverse populations. It involved an interdisciplinary workgroup of over 70 University faculty who examined and developed recommendations on a diverse set of policy issues with regard to care models, expenditures, health outcomes, goals, and attitudes about people with disabilities. Many of these topics appear to be approached quite differently as they affect children, adults (ages 18-65) and persons 65 and older

Geriatric Training Curricula Geriatric Education Centers—Geriatric Resource Information Project (funded by Health Resources and Services Administration) Development and production of innovative distance-based curricula for 15 major topics in geriatrics. The learning modules will be utilized by the Geriatric Education Centers (GEC) network.
Topics: Comprehensive Geriatric Management, Congestive Heart Failure, Dementia, Depression, Drug Management, Elder Abuse, End-of-Life Care, Falls, Iatrogenic Conditions, Incontinence, Informal Care Supports, Nursing Home Care, Osteoporosis, Rehabilitation, Vital Aging

Nursing Effort and Quality in Long-term Care Facilities (funded by National Institutes on Aging) Examine the relationship between nursing effort and quality of care for nursing home residents. This study used extant data from time studies of nursing staff in three states and MDS data on the nursing home residents who were cared for by nurses in the time study to address the relationship between nursing effort and quality of care.

Quality-Based Payment Strategy for Nursing Home Care in Minnesota (funded by The Commonwealth Fund) A partnership between the University of Minnesota and the Minnesota Department of Human Services to develop and evaluate an innovative new Medicaid Value-Based Payment System being proposed for Minnesota nursing facilities. The payment system will be unique in setting Medicaid nursing facility rates according to the quality and the efficiency of the nursing home provider. Case-mix adjusted facility-specific rates will be set prospectively based on a provider’s quality of care as measured through a multidimensional quality score, and efficiency as determined by the provider’s acuity-adjusted costs in relation to a statewide target figure.