How Training and Support for Nursing Home Quality Improvement Programs Affect Hospitalization Rates

​Training and support for implementation of the INTERACT (Interventions to Reduce Acute Care Transfers) program in nursing homes had no statistically significant effect on hospitalizations or emergency department visits when compared with nursing homes that did not receive training and support, according to a study published in the September 2017 issue ofJAMA Internal Medicine. An earlier nonrandomized pilot study of the INTERACT program found a self-reported 24% reduction in all-cause hospitalizations among participating nursing homes, compared with 6% in those that did not use the program; however, these results could have been influenced by the motivation of the nursing homes to reduce hospitalizations given their voluntary participation. The authors of the JAMA Internal Medicine study sought to address this possible bias by conducting a cluster-randomized clinical trial to assess the effects of training and support for nursing homes implementing the INTERACT program.