How nursing home payments affect care for older adults with Alzheimer's and related dementias
Official title: Project 5 - Effects of Nursing Home Payment on Patient-Centered Outcomes for Older Adults and People with ADRD
Funded at National Bureau of Economic Research · NIH-11195585 · Data updated 2026-11-12
This project looks at whether higher Medicare payments to nursing homes lead to better care and outcomes for older adults, including people with Alzheimer's and related dementias.
Quick facts
| Grant type | P01 program project |
|---|---|
| Study type | NIH-funded research |
| Funding institution | National Bureau of Economic Research NIH-funded |
| Lab location | 1 site (Cambridge, United States) |
| Project start | February 1, 1997 |
| Project end | August 31, 2029 |
| Funding year | 2025 |
| Award (this year) | $459,353 |
| NIH project number | 5P01AG005842-36 |
| Project ID | NIH-11195585 on NIH RePORTER |
Who could benefit from this research
✓Could help
This work is most relevant to older adults and Medicare beneficiaries who receive care in nursing homes, especially people living with Alzheimer's disease or related dementias and their families.
✕Less likely to help
People who never receive nursing home care or whose needs are fully met at home or in outpatient settings are unlikely to see direct benefits from these findings.
What this research studies
Researchers will compare nursing home performance before and after major Medicare payment reforms in 2010 and 2019 to see if changes in funding changed patient care. They will use nationwide Medicare claims and detailed patient assessments to track outcomes such as access to services, staffing, hospital transfers, and health events for older adults and people with dementia. The team simulates how each facility's payments would change under the reforms and applies statistical methods that act like natural experiments to separate payment effects from other trends. This approach aims to show whether raising payments leads to measurable improvements in patient-centered outcomes.
Why it matters
Potential benefit: If higher payments lead to better staffing and resources, this could translate into safer care, fewer hospital visits, and improved daily well-being for nursing home residents with dementia.
How similar studies have gone: Similar natural-experiment methods have successfully linked hospital payment changes to outcomes, and this project applies a related approach to nursing homes.
Where this research is happening
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National Bureau of Economic Research
Cambridge, United States Active
Researchers
- Principal investigator: Sacarny, Adam Jon — National Bureau of Economic Research
- Study coordinator: Sacarny, Adam Jon
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.