New estimates of lifetime nursing home use: have patterns of use changed?
Disability declines and changes in Medicare policy between 1986 and 1993 had little impact on overall patterns of nursing home use. Barring dramatic changes in health status or other factors, population aging will make nursing home costs a growing share of national health spending. More needs to be known about relationships between nursing home use and alternative care settings and the cost and quality implications of shifts from one setting to the other. A key issue is how constraints on Medicare SNF and home health benefits will affect use and the distribution of costs.
The Allergan Hand Volume Deficit Scale is a validated and reliable scale for physician rating of hand volume deficit.