Study Results from Herdecke University Broaden Understanding of Life Sciences (Nursing home-sensitive conditions: analysis of routine health insurance data and modified Delphi analysis of potentially avoidable hospitalizations [version 2; peer …): Life Sciences

2022 JUN 01 (NewsRx) -- By a News Reporter-Staff News Editor at Hospital & Nursing Home Daily -- Investigators discuss new findings in life sciences. According to news originating from Witten, Germany, by NewsRx correspondents, research stated, “Hospitalizations of nursing home residents are associated with various health risks. Previous research indicates that, to some extent, hospitalizations of this vulnerable population may be inappropriate and even avoidable.”

Funders for this research include Innovation Committee At The Joint Federal Committee in Germany.

Our news journalists obtained a quote from the research from Herdecke University: “This study aimed to develop a consensus list of hospital discharge diagnoses considered to be nursing home-sensitive, i.e., avoidable. The study combined analyses of routine data from six statutory health insurance companies in Germany and a two-stage Delphi panel, enhanced by expert workshop discussions, to identify and corroborate relevant diagnoses. Experts from four different disciplines estimated the proportion of hospitalizations that could potentially have been prevented under optimal conditions. We analyzed frequencies and costs of data for hospital admissions from 242,236 nursing home residents provided by statutory health insurance companies. We identified 117 hospital discharge diagnoses, which had a frequency of at least 0.1%. We recruited experts (primary care physicians, hospital specialists, nursing home professionals and researchers) to estimate the proportion of potentially avoidable hospitalizations for the 117 diagnoses deemed avoidable in two Delphi rounds (n=107 in Delphi Round 1 and n=96 in Delphi Round 2, effective response rate=91%). A total of 35 diagnoses with high and consistent estimates of the proportion of potentially avoidable hospitalizations were identified as nursing home-sensitive. In an expert workshop (n=16), a further 25 diagnoses were discussed that had not reached the criteria, of which another 23 were consented to be nursing home-sensitive conditions. Extrapolating the frequency and mean costs of these 58 diagnoses to the national German context yielded total potentially avoidable care costs of €768,304,547, associated with 219,955 nursing home-sensitive hospital admissions.”

According to the news reporters, the research concluded: “A total of 58 nursing home-relevant diagnoses (ICD-10-GM three-digit level) were classified as nursing home-sensitive using an adapted Delphi procedure. Interventions should be developed to avoid hospital admission from nursing homes for these diagnoses.”

For more information on this research see: Nursing home-sensitive conditions: analysis of routine health insurance data and modified Delphi analysis of potentially avoidable hospitalizations [version 2; peer review: 2 approved]. F1000Research, 2022,10. (F1000Research - http://f1000research.com). The publisher for F1000Research is F1000 Research Ltd.

A free version of this journal article is available at https://doi.org/10.12688/f1000research.73875.2.

Our news editors report that additional information may be obtained by contacting Maria Paula Valk-Draad, Chair of Management and Innovation in Health Care, Witten, Herdecke University, Witten, 58448, Germany. Additional authors for this research include Sabine Bohnet-Joschko, Oliver Groene, Timo Schulte.

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