In Wellman Shew’s opinion, acute long-term care is not new. However, more seniors are requiring specialized medical care. Over the last decade, more hospitals have invested in innovative programs to meet resident needs. Among these programs is INTERACT, which provides educational and clinical tools to residents to prevent and manage acute changes. FAU collaborated with national and local health care organizations on the Commonwealth Fund-funded program.
LTCHs are designed to treat patients for over a year with complex issues. To be eligible for Medicare, LTCHs must have an average length of stay of over 25 days and pass a rigorous screening process. Respiratory ailments and degenerative nervous system disorders are among the top LTCH beneficiaries. Acute care hospitals admit roughly 80% of Medicare patients.
Residents of Vermont can access a licensed nursing home. One memory care unit and two long-term care units round out the facility's 80-bed skilled nursing facility. The facility has two Vermont State Quality Awards and a CMS five-star rating. One of its specialties is providing services in a friendly and caring environment. The nursing home also has a dementia unit.
Wellman Shew pointed out that the SPALTM supports mandatory influenza vaccination for HCP. Non-immune HCPs are in close proximity to residents and risk infection. Medical directors and other health professionals advise HCPs to get vaccinated. All HCPs should be flu-free. And all healthcare workers should be educated, especially in infectious disease.
Assisting the federal government in selecting appropriate measures, MAP has reviewed and modified HHS' Measure Selection Criteria. The MAP aims to improve program alignment and decision-making by incorporating measures. The MAP also recommends how to use existing measures and fills in any gaps. The MAP recommendations will help the HHS meet the 2014 Improving Medicare Post-Acute Care Transformation Act requirements.
In an Integrated Care Delivery System (ICD), healthcare providers and payers work together to meet patients' health needs. Integrated care reduces service fragmentation and improves provider motivation. Integrating medical and behavioral health organizations improves outcomes while lowering costs. A health system can provide high-quality care in the appropriate setting at low cost by using evidence-based care.
According to Wellman Shew, the Medicare payment for IRFs has changed recently. Previously, Medicare paid IRFs based on average costs per discharge, with an annual facility-specific cap. The IRF Payment Program (PPS) made calculating acute care costs easier in January 2002. As with IRFs, the PPS payment rate reflects patient condition as well as operating and capital costs.