Utilization of technology by long-term care providers: comparisons between for-profit and nonprofit institutions

We examine ownership differences in the use of technology in long-term care facilities.

We analyze two nationally representative surveys of administrators collected by the Centers for Disease Control (CDC): the 2004 National Nursing Home Survey and the 2010 National Survey of Residential Care Facilities.

We find that nonprofit nursing homes are more likely to use some computerized administrative functions and digital laboratory reports, and report use rates similar to for-profit organizations in other areas of health IT. Nonprofit residential care facilities are more likely to use electronic medical records and information exchange systems than their for-profit counterparts. In addition, nonprofit residential care facilities are more likely than for-profit facilities to digitize more types of information and use larger health information exchange networks.

The reasons for which nonprofit long-term care organizations report higher levels of some types of technology utilization are explored, and future research is recommended.