CMS Initiative to Reduce Avoidable Hospitalizations among Nursing Home Residents May Be Effective, Study Shows

​The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services' (CMS) Initiative to Reduce Avoidable Hospitalizations among Nursing Facility Residents saw net reductions of 2.2 to 9.3 and 1.4 to 7.2 percentage points, respectively, in the probability of all-cause hospitalizations and potentially avoidable hospitalizations, according to a study published in the March 2017 issue of Health Affairs based on data from 2015. More than 25% of long-stay nursing home residents are hospitalized each year, according to research, and 47% of these hospitalizations are potentially avoidable. In 2005, such hospitalizations cost Medicare and Medicaid an estimated $1.9 billion. The CMS initiative was in place from 2013 to 2016, involving 143 nursing facilities across seven states, each of which implemented specific clinical or educational interventions.