The quality of home‐based primary care delivered by nurse practitioners: A national Medicare claims analysis

Background As the US population ages, there is an increasing demand for home‐based primary care (HBPC) by those with Alzheimer's/dementia, multiple chronic conditions, severe physical limitations, or those facing end‐of life. Nurse practitioners (NPs) are increasingly providing HBPC, yet little is known about their quality of care in this unique setting. Methods This observational study uses Medicare claims data from 2018 to assess the quality of care for high‐intensity HBPC users (5 or more visits/year) based on provider type (NP‐only, physician (MD)‐only, or both NP and MDs). We employ 12 quality measures from 3 care domains: access and prevention, acute care utilization, and end‐of‐life. Analysis includes bivariate comparisons and logistic regression models that adjust for demographic, clinical, and geographic characteristics. Results Among the 574,567 beneficiaries with 5 or more HBPC visits, 37% saw an NP, 37% saw a MD, and 27% saw both NPs and MDs. In multivariate models, those receiving HBPC from an NP or both NP‐MD are significantly more likely to receive a flu shot than the MD‐only group, but less likely to access preventive care. NP‐only care is associated with more acute care hospitalizations, avoidable ED visits, and fall‐related injuries, but significantly fewer avoidable admissions. For end‐of‐life care, those with NP‐only or both NP‐MD care are significantly more likely to have an advanced directive, be in hospice in the last 3 days of life, and more likely to die in hospice. The NP group is also more likely to die in the next year. Conclusions HBPC patients are complex, with both palliative and curative needs. NPs provide almost half of HBPC in the Medicare program, to patients who are possibly sicker than those treated by physicians, with similar quality to MDs.