DOH Studies Frailty in MLTC Population

Functional need and frailty measures provide different but important information about an individual's health status and can be useful in improving planning and provision of care for Managed Long Term Care (MLTC) participants. That is the finding from a study conducted by the Department of Health (DOH) Office of Quality and Patient Safety that sought to assess how frailty and functional care need are related by comparing level of care scores with frailty indicators for MLTC participants.

The study, which tested a frailty index based on 22 data elements and clinical diagnosis categories widely available in administrative data, found a moderate positive correlation between overall frailty and an individual's level of care functional score, although performance of different predictors varied. The results of this and similar work can assist in developing optimal services for long term care populations and may also help inform the development of more accurate risk adjustment models for payment purposes. The brief is posted on the DOH website here.

Contact: Darius Kirstein, dkirstein@leadingageny.org, 518-867-8841