Md. Zwahr et al., IMPLEMENTATION OF THE PATIENT SELF-DETERMINATION ACT - A COMPARISON OF NURSING-HOMES TO HOSPITALS, Journal of applied gerontology, 16(2), 1997, pp. 190-207
The Patient Self-Determination Act (PSDA) requires all health care fac
ilities receiving Medicare or Medicaid funds to provide information ab
out advance directives and the right of patients to refuse medical tre
atment Administrators of 155 nursing homes in the state of Georgia com
pleted surveys to assess implementation practices employed to comply w
ith the PSDA mandates, knowledge of the law, and perceived effects of
the passage of the PSDA. Responses from nursing home administrators we
re summarized, reported and compared to results obtained from Georgia
hospitals. Important differences were discovered. Nursing homes routin
ely provide more types of information to residents and spend more time
with residents explaining relevant information than do hospitals; but
hospital administrators demonstrated better knowledge of the PSDA and
state law than nursing home counterparts. The implications of finding
s regarding the implementation of the PSDA and its overall effectivene
ss are discussed.