Home health care for Veterans after hospital stays
Official title: Post-Acute Home Health Care for Veterans: Examining Payer Source, Quality, and Outcomes
Funded at Providence VA Medical Center · NIH-11339457 · Data updated 2026-11-12
This project compares outcomes for Veterans who get VA-contracted versus Medicare-funded skilled home health care after leaving the hospital.
Quick facts
| Grant type | NIH-funded research |
|---|---|
| Study type | NIH-funded research |
| Funding institution | Providence VA Medical Center NIH-funded |
| Lab location | 1 site (Providence, United States) |
| Project start | July 1, 2022 |
| Project end | September 30, 2026 |
| Funding year | 2026 |
| NIH project number | 5I01HX003360-04 |
| Project ID | NIH-11339457 on NIH RePORTER |
Who could benefit from this research
✓Could help
Ideal candidates are Veterans recently discharged from a hospital who are eligible for and receive skilled home health services paid by the VA or Medicare.
✕Less likely to help
This project is unlikely to directly benefit people who are not Veterans, not enrolled in VA care, or who do not require skilled home health after discharge (for example those already in long-term nursing homes).
What this research studies
From a Veteran’s point of view, researchers are looking at Veterans discharged home who receive skilled home health services and tracking outcomes like readmissions, nursing home placement, and mortality. They compare care paid for by the VA (VA-contracted agencies) with care paid by Medicare (including Medicare Advantage) and examine how funding and referral patterns vary across VA Medical Centers. The team uses VA and Medicare records and data on home health agency quality to link payer source and agency characteristics to patient outcomes. Results will help explain whether differences in financing or agency quality relate to worse outcomes and where improvements might be made.
Why it matters
Potential benefit: If successful, the work could help the VA and community agencies shape referrals and payment so Veterans receive higher-quality home health and have fewer readmissions.
How similar studies have gone: Preliminary analyses have suggested higher 30-day readmission rates for VA-financed home health compared with Medicare-funded care, and this project builds on and expands those real-world findings.
Where this research is happening
-
Providence VA Medical Center
Providence, United States Active
Researchers
- Principal investigator: Gravenstein, Stefan — Providence VA Medical Center
- Study coordinator: Gravenstein, Stefan
About this research
- This is an active NIH-funded research project — typically early-stage science, not a clinical trial accepting patient enrollment.
- Some NIH-funded labs run parallel clinical studies or seek volunteers for related work. To check, contact the principal investigator or institution listed above.
- For full project details, budget, and progress reports, visit the official NIH RePORTER page.