November 2023 figures for Continuum Healthcare and the Evangelical Lutheran Good Samaritan Society
The December 6, 2023 article, “Scandia Village Transfer Delayed”, https://doorcountypulse.com/scandia-village-transfer-delayed/, quotes Tim Hodges, director of communications for Continuum Healthcare, stating, “Our goal when we acquire facilities is to improve it and make it better.”
Will his for-profit business do a better job for residents and employees than the non-profit Evangelical Lutheran Good Samaritan Society?
Organizations which run multiple nursing homes are evaluated by the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services. The figures I looked at are only the most recent ones. It is likely that some of these values exhibit some degree of random variation over the years, of the sort which makes it impossible to say that one organization outperforms the other. What follows doesn’t consider this possibility, so this summary is at best a cursory look rather than the final word.
Good Sam homes are better staffed overall, and also on weekends. Good Sam homes are more highly ranked overall by the federal government because they have higher health inspection and staffing ratings. However, Continuum has a higher quality rating.
Continuum has a higher nursing staff turnover than Good Sam. Continuum has also done a worse job with retaining their administrators.
For short-term stays, Good Sam homes residents are less likely to be re-hospitalized, but are more likely to have to go to the ER. Good Sam homes are less likely to put their short-stay residents on antipsychotics. Good Sam does a better job preventing pressure ulcers, but a worse job at helping residents improve in function. Good Sam residents are more likely to receive flu and pneumococcal vaccines.
The hospitalization rate for Continuum homes is 19% worse than for Good Sam homes, but the emergency room visitation rate for Good Sam homes is 44% more than for Continuum homes.
Long-stay Continuum residents are more likely to be put on antipsychotics, but less likely to have one or more falls with a major injury than long-stay Good Sam residents.
Long-stay, high risk Good Sam residents are less likely to suffer from pressure ulcers.
Long-stay Good Sam residents are seven and a half times more likely to have a urinary tract infection and they are 4.4 times more likely to be given a catheter which is intended to remain in them. Their patients with lower risk are also 12% more likely to lose control of their bowels and bladder.
Long-stay Good Sam residents are 2.1 times more likely to suffer a reduction in their ability to move independently and 1.7 times more likely to have an increased need for help with the activities of daily living.
Long-stay seasonal flu vaccine rates are very similar for both Continuum and Good Sam long-stay residents, but Good Sam residents have a higher rate of receiving the pneumococcal vaccine.
Continuum's long-stay residents are 20% more likely to lose too much weight, and 4.9 times more likely to suffer from the symptoms of depression. Continuum's long-stay residents are 43% more likely to have received antianxiety or hypnotic medication.
When discharged from their skilled nursing facility, Continuum patients are more likely to be readmitted to a hospital within the next thirty days for something which could have potentially been prevented.
Continuum's long-stay residents are 20% more likely to lose too much weight, and 4.9 times more likely to suffer from the symptoms of depression. Continuum residents are 52% more likely to be considered up-to-date with covid shots, and Continuum personnel are nearly four times more likely to be up-to-date with their covid shots.
The figures are separated into three tables in order to show the % and $ signs properly in Datawrapper.
Continuum homes, on average, been fined nearly three times as much per home as Good Sam homes, with the cumulative dollar amount being 38% larger. Good Sam homes have been fined more altogether, which makes sense because there are more Good Sam homes than Continuum homes.
Five of the six Continuum homes have their own websites, which are linked to from: https://www.continuumltc.com/our-portfolio.
The directory for Good Sam homes can be reached by selecting a state from the map at https://www.good-sam.com/locations.
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