Although the presence of assisted living communities may create competitive pressures that affect the nursing home finances, it does not have a significant negative effect on nursing home occupancy, according to a recent study.
“The increased assisted living supply may create additional financial/competitive pressures, such as more acute residents that can result in decreasing nursing home performance,” the authors stated. “In addition, the increase of assisted living supply result[s] in higher operating costs as nursing homes potentially have to increase spending on marketing and other amenities to remain competitive in the market.”
The findings, according to the researchers, suggest that even though assisted living is not a substitute for skilled care — as evidenced by its limited effect on occupancy — “it could be viewed as another indirect competitor in the long-term care industry, thus potentially dampening the profitability of existing nursing homes.”
Researchers came to their findings by analyzing publicly available data from 2003 to 2015 from the state of Florida. The findings appear in the Journal of Health Care Organization.
Another recent study, in Health Services Research, found that in counties with disproportionately high growth in assisted living, private-pay occupancy in nursing homes has fallen.
