Nursing Home Ownership Trends and Their Impact on Quality of Care

Seeking greater understanding of the ownership structures of nursing homes, ASPE contracted with Harvard Medical School to study the trends in organizational structures of nursing homes and their impact on quality of care. This current work builds on previous research funded by ASPE. Specifically, ASPE funded a study of nursing home liability issues and a study on the divestiture and corporate restructuring of national nursing home chains in response to liability issues and payment changes. This study furthers the knowledge base from the previous two studies by describing specific corporate structures and the relationship between ownership trends and indicators of nursing home quality. The overall objectives of this project were: (1) to describe the corporate structures of nursing homes and trends over the past decade; and (2) to analyze the effect of corporate structure on quality of care and staffing in nursing homes. [53 PDF pages]