Behavior Capture in Nursing Homes by Race and Ethnicity
Author Information
Author(s): Yun Hyunkyung, McCreedy Ellen
Primary Institution: Brown University
Hypothesis
Does the use of electronic medical records (EMR) affect the documentation of agitated behaviors in nursing home residents differently across racial and ethnic groups?
Conclusion
Black residents are less likely to have their behaviors documented in both MDS and EMR compared to White residents, despite having a higher share of cognitive impairment.
Supporting Evidence
- Using EMR increased behavior identification by 25.7% compared to MDS alone.
- Black residents were more likely to be in nursing homes regularly using EMR.
- Latinx residents were less likely to be in nursing homes regularly using EMR.
- Black residents had lower documentation of behaviors in both MDS and EMR compared to White residents.
Takeaway
This study found that nursing homes using electronic records miss documenting behaviors for Black residents more than for White residents, which could affect their treatment.
Methodology
The study analyzed data from the Minimum Data Set (MDS) and electronic medical records (EMR) of nursing home residents over a period from January 2020 to August 2022.
Potential Biases
Potential bias in behavior documentation based on race and ethnicity.
Limitations
The study is limited to one large, non-profit corporation's nursing homes and may not be generalizable to all nursing homes.
Participant Demographics
The study included 19,705 residents from 312 nursing homes, with a focus on Black and Latinx residents.
Digital Object Identifier (DOI)
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