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Podcast Episode

Passing the Pop Quiz: How Nursing Homes Predict Inspections, and What It Costs Patients

The Pie: An Economics Podcast·Becker Friedman Institute at UChicago·6 August 2026·28 min

About this episode

In the United States, regulators inspect nursing homes to ensure compliance with quality, safety, and other standards. While these inspections are not technically announced, they are easy for nursing home staff to predict because they usually occur annually. In this episode of The Pie, Maggie Shi, an assistant professor at the University of Chicago's Harris School of Public Policy, discusses how this predictability affects nursing homes' effort levels, and, in turn, resident health.