• Christopher A Boyle, Urmila Ravichandran, Valerie Hankamp, Nadim Ilbawi, Coleen Conway-Svec, Diane Shifley, Thomas Hensing, Susan Kim, and Lakshmi Halasyamani.
• NorthShore University HealthSystem, Evanston, Illinois.
• J Hosp Med. 2021 Aug 18.

BackgroundCOVID-19 represents a grave risk to residents in skilled nursing facilities (SNFs).ObjectiveTo determine whether establishment of an appropriate-use committee was associated with a reduction in SNF utilization.Designs, Setting, And ParticipantsRetrospective cohort study at NorthShore University HealthSystem, a multihospital integrated health system in northern Illinois. Participants were patients hospitalized from March 19, 2019, to July 16, 2020.InterventionCreation of a multidisciplinary committee to assess appropriateness of discharge to SNF following hospitalization.Main Outcome And MeasuresPrimary outcome was total discharges to SNFs. Secondary outcomes were new discharges to SNFs, readmissions, length of stay (LOS), and COVID-19 incidence following discharge.ResultsMatched populations pre and post intervention were each 4424 patients. Post intervention, there was a relative reduction in total SNF discharges of 49.7% (odds ratio [OR], 0.42; 95% CI, 0.38-0.47) and in new SNF discharges of 66.9% (OR, 0.29; 95% CI, 0.25-0.34). Differences in readmissions and LOS were not statistically significant. For patients discharged to a SNF, 2.99% (95% CI, 1.59%-4.39%) developed COVID-19 within 30 days, compared with 0.26% (95% CI, 0.29%-0.93%) of patients discharged to other settings (P < .001).ConclusionImplementing a review committee to assess for appropriateness of SNF use after a hospitalization during the COVID-19 pandemic is highly effective. There was no negative impact on safety or efficiency of hospital care, and reduced SNF use likely prevented several cases of COVID-19. This model could serve as a template for other hospitals to reduce the risks of COVID-19 in SNFs and as part of a value-based care strategy.

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