Evidence map›Paper›PMID 41724735›Full record

ArticleJournal of the American Geriatrics Society2026

Quality of Medicare Skilled Home Health for People Living With Dementia in the US: National Patterns and Implications.

Jennifer M Reckrey, Bian Liu, Arushi Arora, Christine Ritchie, Bruce Leff, Abraham A Brody, Julia G Burgdorf, Katherine A Ornstein

Abstract read
In one paragraph

Article in Journal of the American Geriatrics Society, 2026. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 1 paper.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
1citing papers in PubMed
–field-weighted citation impact
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

1 citing paper in PubMed.

  1. Article
4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

8 authors.

Jennifer M ReckreyDivision of Geriatric Medicine and Palliative Care, Department of Medicine, NYU Grossman School of Medicine, New York, New York, USA.ORCID 0000-0001-8904-8200
Bian LiuDepartment of Population Health Science and Policy, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, New York, New York, USA.ORCID 0000-0001-9166-693X
Arushi AroraDepartment of Population Health Science and Policy, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, New York, New York, USA.
Christine RitchieDivision of Palliative Care and Geriatric Medicine, Massachusetts General Hospital and Harvard Medical School, Boston, Massachusetts, USA.
Bruce LeffDivision of Geriatric Medicine, Johns Hopkins School of Medicine, Baltimore, Maryland, USA.ORCID 0000-0003-1714-7458
Abraham A BrodyDivision of Geriatric Medicine and Palliative Care, Department of Medicine, NYU Grossman School of Medicine, New York, New York, USA.ORCID 0000-0002-3405-7043
Julia G BurgdorfCenter for Home Care Policy and Research, VNS Health, New York, New York, USA.ORCID 0000-0002-3356-1897
Katherine A OrnsteinJohns Hopkins School of Nursing, Baltimore, Maryland, USA.ORCID 0000-0001-6270-4423

Funding

Unnecessary and Harmful Medication Use in Older Adults with DementiaP01AG066605 · NIA · ICAHN SCHOOL OF MEDICINE AT MOUNT SINAI · PI R. Sean Morrison · 2020 to 2026
$17.7M
The Role of Paid Caregivers in Home-Based Dementia CareK23AG066930 · NIA · NEW YORK UNIVERSITY SCHOOL OF MEDICINE · PI RECKREY, JENNIFER M · 2020 to 2024
$799k
NIA NIH HHS AG066605NIA NIH HHS AG066930NIA NIH HHS K23 AG066930NIA NIH HHS P01 AG066605
6 · The paper itself

Abstract

backgroundPeople living with dementia frequently use Medicare skilled home health care and have unique usage patterns as compared to people without dementia, but little is known about variation in measured quality of home health care received by this population.

methodsUsing 2021 Medicare Fee-for-Service Claims data, we examined receipt of high-quality home health (i.e., care from an agency with a star rating > 3.5) as determined by two publicly available measures: the Quality of Patient Care Star Rating (based on standardized clinical status measures) and the Patient Survey Star Rating (based on satisfaction with care reported by patients or caregivers). For each quality measure, we mapped the county-level high-quality-home health agency utilization rate among people living with dementia and compared differences in utilization of high-quality home health agencies by dementia status.

resultsWe found significant county-level variability in utilization of high-quality home health. When quality was operationalized based on clinical status measures (i.e., Quality of Patient Care Star Rating), dementia patients did not receive care from lower quality agencies. However, when quality was operationalized based on satisfaction with care (i.e., Patient Survey Star Ratings), people living with dementia were less likely than those without dementia to receive care from high-quality home health agencies.

conclusionsThese findings highlight variability in receipt of high-quality home health care among people living with dementia nationally and suggest a need for further investigation as to what constitutes high-quality home health care in this population. To ensure home health meets the unique care needs of people living with dementia, policy makers should work to ensure quality measures are better aligned with the needs of people living with dementia, incentivize access to high-quality home health care where services are limited, and promote systems to improve family caregiver identification and engagement with home health care.

Indexed as

DementiaHome Care ServicesMedicareQuality of Health CareAgedAged, 80 and overFemaleHome Care AgenciesHumansMalePatient SatisfactionUnited Statesdementiaquality measurementskilled home health care

Identifiers

PMID41724735
PMCPMC13080056

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Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.