Applying market-based reforms to long-term care

Abstract

Recent trends in U.S. long-term care policy reflect three broad goals Americans have for the quality of long-term care: improving quality of life, reducing fragmentation of delivery and financing, and increasing use of home and community-based care. At the same time, market-based reforms--namely, public reporting and pay-for-performance--have taken on their own momentum, aimed at improving the clinical quality of care among nursing home and home health care providers. The focus of reporting systems should be broadened to include quality of life in addition to clinical quality and to make measures less dependent on the setting in which care is delivered.