Healthcare Market Resources

05/09/2018

Kidney-failure patients are faced with a seemingly impossible dilemma as their health deteriorates: try to prolong life with continued dialysis treatment or seek hospice care. Perhaps unsurprisingly, that difficult choice has contributed to patients with kidney failure using hospice far less than other patients—fewer admissions and shorter lengths of stay.

For Hospices, the question becomes which physicians tend to refer their kidney failure to hospice and which tend to continue with curative care for these patients. Our Hospice Referring Physician Report provides these diagnostic insights, allowing agencies to identify the MDs who see kidney disease patients and are most likely to refer to hospice.

Patients with end-stage renal disease are faced with a seemingly impossible dilemma as their health deteriorates: try to prolong life with continued treatment or seek end-of-life comfort through ho…

05/07/2018

Yet another article on the inevitability of hospice being rolled into Medicare Advantage. https://homehealthcarenews.com/2018/04/hospice-carve-in-for-medicare-advantage-is-inevitable/

We've written extensively about this challenge. Here's our most recent blog on the subject: http://www.healthmr.com/hospice-medicare-advantage/

While much of the health care system is moving more Medicare beneficiaries into managed care, hospice continues to live on its own island. That’s because hospice is not allowed as a benefit i…

04/26/2018

Why is data so important? In a world where data availability is ubiquitous, the question for post acute providers is not "why should I leverage data" but rather "how much risk do I leave myself open to when I do NOT leverage data?" This article is yet another in less than a month which talks about how data is fundamental to the future viability of skilled nursing facilities (and really all post acute providers). The other one can be found in our blog - http://www.healthmr.com/snfs-bright-future/.

Visit our website to see what data can do for you.

https://skillednursingnews.com/2018/04/data-essential-skilled-nursing-facilities-thrive-new-world/

In the face of the changing payment landscape, skilled nursing providers can’t afford to put off data collection. In fact, there’s a lot of information gathering they must be doing now to adapt to value-based payments, Bundled Payments for Care Improvement (BPCI), the rise of Medicare Advantage ...

04/19/2018

This updated study underscores the continued trend towards physician employment, part of the larger movement towards consolidation in the health care system. The question for post-acute care providers is - At what point will hospitals more closely monitor where physicians send their non-facility discharge referrals?

PAI and Avalere updated this study, adding an additional year of data through mid-2016. During this year, physician employment grew an additional 11%. During the period, hospitals acquired an additional 5,000 physicians practices. The study underscores the continued trend towards physician emp...

04/18/2018

Falling occupancy, Medicare payment pressures, competition from home health services and a focus on length-of-stay management have driven demand for SNF services down since 2015, according to a recent article in McKnights. However, "the future will be bright for facilities that can provide high-quality, cost-efficient care.”

We agree but providing high-quality, efficient care is only one piece of the puzzle. SNFs still need to sell themselves.

To that end, we've listed the data elements that can help with that goal.

Falling occupancy, Medicare payment pressures, competition from home health services and a focus on length-of-stay management have driven demand for SNF services down since 2015,...

04/16/2018

If you're heading to NHCPO this week, then please stop by our booth #213. We'll give you a custom Physician Referral Report which reveals exactly which physicians are referring to hospice and to where they are referring. You can also see samples of our SNF referral report which shows the nursing facilities referring to specific hospices their short and long term patients.

Let us help you unravel the mystery of your referral sources. Stop by booth #213 to learn more.

04/10/2018

How can home health care agencies enhance hospital referrals and partner with managed care organizations? Take a look at this recent study plus our free tutorials on how to leverage readmission metrics.

“Patients who receive home health care after a hospital discharge are saving the health care system some serious dough, on average,” according to a recent...

04/02/2018

Hospital readmission rates have emerged as the unquestioned arbiter of post-acute care quality and payments. But a new study suggests a more comprehensive approach may be warranted.

Despite this, we ask "does it matter if readmission rates are not the ideal measure since they are still the measure being used for the foreseeable future?"

Hospital readmission rates have emerged as the unquestioned arbiter of post-acute care quality and payments. But a new study suggests a more comprehensive approach may be warranted.

03/28/2018

A recent study published in the journal Health Affairs “finds that hospices with the highest rate of so-called live discharges also have the highest profits”. And, we recently conducted a study which found that hospices which exceeded the hospice cap had a live discharge rate in excess of 50%.

Is it possible that these “financially motivated” hospices discharge high utilization patients around the 180 day mark? Live discharge rate is a Program for Evaluating Payment Patterns Electronic Report (PEPPER) indicator. A high live discharge rate is an indicator of possible questionable behavior.

A recent study published in the journal Health Affairs and profiled by NPR “finds that hospices with the highest rate of so-called live discharges also...

03/24/2018

Our latest blog on hospice as part of Medicare Advantage.

There’s a long history regarding the potential inclusion of hospice in Medicare Advantage (MA), and it seems there’s strong momentum yet again. According to Home...

03/22/2018

Following on my post from yesterday, the Avalere study may explain declining volume from hospital referrals, in a traditional sense, but home health agencies should be marketing to Emergency Departments for cases. Home health has an advantage over SNF’s for Medicare patients since it does not need a hospital stay prior to admission. However, the home health agency needs to be able to provide easy access 24/7.

http://www.ajmc.com/focus-of-the-week/medicare-hospital-discharges-decline-but-observation-stays-rise-avalere-finds

03/21/2018

Another article discussing the decline in SNF referrals as a result of fewer hospital admissions. Adding to the issue is the shift to Home Health which is still attractive in lots of markets. But the rise of home healthcare was not the main driver for the decline. "It had to do more with hospitals increasingly placing patients in observation status over admitting them for inpatient services."

Efforts to reduce hospitalizations among Medicare beneficiaries has sparked a steady decline in admissions over the past several years, and it has also affected the bottom lines of many skilled nursing facilities.