Christopher Murtaugh, Ph.D., Associate Director, joined the Center for Home Care Policy and Research in October of 1996. At the Center, Dr. Murtaugh is responsible for directing policy-relevant studies of access to and the cost, quality, and outcomes of home-and-community-based care (HCBC). Currently, he is conducting research on financing and delivery systems for HCBC and how they impact elders’ use of services and the outcomes of care. He also conducts research aimed at improving the transition of elders from one care setting to another, and on the use of technology to improve home-care provider performance and patient safety.
Prior to joining the Center, Dr. Murtaugh was the Director of Long Term and Subacute Care Research at the Medical Technology and Practice Patterns Institute (MTPPI) in Washington, D.C. At MTPPI, he was the principal investigator for a study comparing the use of Medicaid-covered services by disabled and non-disabled adults. Before that, Dr. Murtaugh worked for over seven years for the Agency for Health Care Policy and Research (now, the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality), U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. He was the principal or co-principal investigator for numerous studies of elderly persons with disabilities and the use, cost and financing of long-term care.
Dr. Murtaugh's research has involved the analysis of several large national surveys including the National Long Term Care Survey, the National Nursing Home Survey, the National Mortality Followback Survey and the National Medical Expenditure Survey as well as Medicare and Medicaid claims data. He has received funding for his research from the National Institute on Aging, the Assistant Secretary for Planning and Evaluation, the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, The Commonwealth Fund, the TIAA-CREF Institute, and the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality.
Dr. Murtaugh received his doctorate from the Department of Epidemiology and Public Health at Yale University. He also has a Master of Public Administration from New York University with a specialty in health policy, planning and administration.
Journal Articles and Reports
Murtaugh, C., Peng, T., Totten, A.,
Costello, B., Moore, S., & Aykan, H.
2009
Complexity in geriatric home health care.
Journal
of Healthcare Quality. 31(2): 34-43.
Rosenfeld, P., Dennis, J., Hanen, S., Henriquez, E., Schwartz, T., Correoso, L., Murtaugh, C., Fleishman, A. In Press 2007
Are there racial differences in attitudes toward
hospice care?: A study of hospice-eligible patients at the Visiting
Nurse Service of New York.
American Journal of Hospice and Palliative Medicine.
Siegler, E., Murtaugh, C., Rosati, R., Schwartz, T., Razzano, R., Sobolewski, S. & Callahan, M. 2007
Improving communication at the transition to home health care: Use of an electronic referral system.
Home Health Care Management and Practice 19(4): 267-271
Murtaugh, C.M., Peng, T., Aykan, H., & Maduro, G. 2007
Risk adjustment and public reporting on home health care.
Health Care Financing Review. 28(3): 77-94.
Siegler, E., Murtaugh, C., Rosati, R., Clark, Al, Ruchlin, H., Sobolewski, S., Feldman, P., & Callahan, M. 2006
Improving the transition to home health care by rethinking the purpose and structure of the CMS 485: First steps.
Home Health Care Services Quarterly. 25(3-4): 27-38.
Feldman, P., McDonald, M., Rosati, R., Murtaugh, C., Kovner, C.T.,
Goldberg, J.D. & King, L. 2006
Exploring the potential utility of
automated drug alerts in home health care.
Journal of Healthcare Quality 28(1):29-40.
Feldman, P.H., Murtaugh, C.M.,
Pezzin, L.E., McDonald, M.V., & Peng, T.R.
2005.
Just-in-time evidence-based
e-mail "reminders" in home health care: Impact on patient
outcomes.
Health Services Research. 40(3): 859-879.
McDonald, M.V., Pezzin, L.E., Feldman, P.H., Murtaugh, C.M., & Peng, T.R. 2005.
Can just-in-time evidence-based "reminders" improve pain management among home heatlh care nurses and their patients?
Journal of Pain and Symptom Management. 29(5): 474-488.
Murtaugh, C.M., Pezzin, L.E.,
McDonald, M.V., Feldman, P.H., & Peng, T.R.
2005.
Just-in-time evidence-based
e-mail "reminders" in home health care: Impact on nurse
practices.
Health Services Research. 40(3): 843-858.
Feldman, P.H., Peng., T.R., Murtaugh, C.M., Kelleher,
C., Donelson, S.M., McCann, M.E., and Putnam, M.E. 2004.
A randomized intervention to improve heart failure outcomes in community-based
home health care.
Home Healthcare Services Quarterly, 23(1): 1-23.
Murtaugh, C.M., McCall, N., Moore, S., and Meadow,
A. 2003
Trends in Medicare home health care use: 1997-2001.
Health Affairs 22(5):146-156.
Spillman, B.C., Murtaugh, C.M. & Warshawsky,
M.J. 2003.
Policy implications of an annuity approach to integrating long-term
care financing and retirement income.
Journal of Aging and Health 15(1): 45-73.
Murtaugh, C. and Litke, A. March 2002.
Transitions through post-acute and long-term care settings: Patterns of
use and outcomes for a national cohort of elders.
Medical Care, 40(3): 227-236.
Murtaugh, C., Spillman, B., and Warshawsky, M. June
2001.
In sickness and in health: An annuity approach to financing long-term
care and retirement income.
The Journal of Risk and Insurance, 68(2): 225-253.
Donelson, S., Murtaugh, C., Feldman, P., et al.
March 2001.
Clarifying the definition of homebound and medical necessity using OASIS
data.
Final Report prepared for the Office of the Assistant Secretary for
Planning and Evaluation, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services
(Contract #HHS-100-99-0020). New York, NY: Center for Home Care Policy
and Research, Visiting Nurse Service of NY.
Stevenson, D., Murtaugh, C., Feldman, P., and Oberlink,
M. Fall/Winter 2000.
Expanding publicly financed
assisted living and other residential alternatives for disabled older
persons: Issues and options. Policy Brief.
New York, NY: Center for Home Care Policy and Research, Visiting Nurse
Service of NY.
Stevenson, D., Murtaugh, C., Feldman, P., and Oberlink,
M. Fall/Winter 2000.
Expanding publicly financed
managed long-term care programs to provide greater access to home and
community-based care. Policy Brief. New York, NY: Center for
Home Care Policy and Research, Visiting Nurse Service of NY.
Murtaugh, C., Stevenson, D., Feldman, P., and Oberlink,
M. Fall/Winter 2000.
State expenditures on home
and community-based care for disabled elders. Fact Sheet.
New York, NY: Center for Home Care Policy and Research, Visiting Nurse
Service of NY.
Warshawsky, M., Spillman, B., and Murtaugh, C. Fall/Winter
2000. Integration
of the life annuity and long-term care insurance: Theory, evidence, practice,
and policy.
Pension Research Council Working Paper Number 2000-11. Philadelphia,
PA: The Wharton School, University of Pennsylvania.
Gardner, E., Murtaugh, C., Ray, N., and Thamer,
M. 1999.
The cost of Medicaid-covered services provided to disabled adults with
neurologic disorders: Implications for managed care.
The American Journal of Managed Care, 5(11): 1417-1425.
Murtaugh, C., Sparer, M., Feldman, P., Lee, J.S.,
et al. 1999.
State strategies for allocating resources to home and community-based
care.
Final report submitted to the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation.
Murtaugh, C., Kemper, P., Spillman, B., and Carlson,
B. 1997.
The amount distribution and timing of lifetime nursing home use.
Medical Care, 35(3): 204-218.
Freiman, M. and Murtaugh, C. 1995.
Interactions between hospital and nursing home use.
Public Health Reports, 110: 546-554.
Murtaugh, C., Kemper, P., and Spillman, B. 1995.
Risky business: Long term care insurance underwriting.
Inquiry, 32(3): 271-284.
Carlson, B., Kemper, P., and Murtaugh, C. 1995.
Constructing a lifetime nursing home use data base from a sample of discharges.
Journal of Economic and Social Measurement, 21(3): 187-211.
Murtaugh, C. and Freiman, M. 1995.
Nursing home residents at risk of hospitalization and the characteristics
of their hospital stays.
The Gerontologist, 35(1): 35-43.
Murtaugh, C. 1994.
Discharge planning in nursing homes.
Health Services Research, 28(6): 751-769.
Freiman, M. and Murtaugh, C. 1993.
The determinants of the hospitalization of nursing home residents. Journal of Health Economics, 12(3): 349-359.
Kemper, P., Spillman, B., and Murtaugh, C. 1991.
A lifetime perspective on proposals for financing nursing home care. Inquiry, 28(4): 333-344.
Kemper, P. and Murtaugh, C. 1991.
Lifetime use of nursing home care.
New England Journal of Medicine, 324(9): 595-600.
Murtaugh, C., Kemper, P., and Spillman, B. 1990.
The risk of nursing home use in late life.
Medical Care, 28(10): 952-962.
Stone, R. and Murtaugh, C. 1990.
The elderly population with chronic functional disability: Implications
for home care eligibility.
The Gerontologist, 30(4): 491-496.
Murtaugh, C., Cooney, L., Dersimonian, R., Smits,
H., and Fetter, R. 1988.
Nursing home reimbursement and the allocation of rehabilitation therapy
resources.
Health Services Research, 23(4): 467-493.
Alexander, M., Siegel, C., and Murtaugh, C. 1985.
Automating the psychiatric record for care review purposes: A feasibility
analysis.
Computers in Human Services, 1(4): 1-16.
Books/Chapters in Books
Warshawsky, M., Spillman, B., and Murtaugh, C. 2002.
Integrating life annuities and long-term care insurance: Theory, evidence,
practice, and policy.
In: Innovations in Retirement Financing., Mitchell, O., Bodie, Z.,
Hammond, B., and Zeldes, S., eds. Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania
Press.
Brand, D., Smits, H., Cooney, L., Schneider, K.,
Murtaugh, C., and Fetter, R. 1991.
The PDG system for long-term care.
In: DRGs: Their Design and Development,Fetter, R., ed. Ann Arbor,
MI: Health Administration Press.
Kemper, P., Murtaugh, C., and Spillman, B. 1991.
Nursing home use after age 65 in the United States: Differences in remaining
lifetime use among subgroups and states.
In: Proceedings of the Fourth International Conference on Health/Social
Services for the Elderly and Disabled, Barcelona, Spain.
Murtaugh, C., Siegel, C., Fischer, S., Alexander,
M., and Craig, T. 1982. Computers and quality of care review.
In: Proceedings of the Sixth Annual Symposium on Computer Applications
in Medical Care, Washington, D.C.
Murtaugh, C., Siegel, C., Craig, T., and Fischer,
S.
Psychiatric record use for quality assurance purposes.
In: Proceedings of the Sixth Annual MSIS National Users Group Conference,
Orangeburg, New York.
