Publications by authors named "James Whitford"
Objectives: To describe the methods used to validate Veterans Health Administration (VA) nursing home acuity data and estimate hypothetical payments for nursing home patients in VA-based and community-based units.
Methods: For a sample of VA-based and community-based nursing home patients at six sites, auditors validated the resource utilization classifications from the most recent complete full or quarterly assessments. Scores were averaged to obtain an acuity index for each nursing home population.
Objectives: To describe methods for estimating what payments to private sector providers might be for specialized inpatient care in the absence of Veterans Health Administration (VA) facilities.
Methods: Psychiatric, rehabilitation, domiciliary, partial and day hospitalization, and psychiatric residential treatment programs at six study sites were audited for program content that would meet Medicare criteria for excluding providers from the prospective payment system. A 10% sample of patients in each program was also audited to see if they met VA program criteria.