Prevent PAMA Readmission Penalties with Nocturnal Coverage

One of the biggest costs in a hospitalist program is the nocturnal program. Maintaining a physician in-house with volume that is not cost-neutral continues to be a challenge to skilled nursing facilities. TeleHealth Solution keeps the bottom line in sight while providing quality, patient-focused care for your nocturnal needs. Your facility could cut the average nocturnal rate of transfers by over half. TeleHealth Solution provides cost-effective answers for healthcare organizations without sacrificing quality of care. Ask how we reduce your liability, too.

Our team of TeleNocturnists provides valuable support for nighttime clinical workers, covers staffing gaps, ensures quick access to talented and trained doctors during the night, and reduces physician burnout.

Think about the financial cost of keeping on-staff doctors during the night shifts—plus the added stress and risk of burnout—and you can easily see how TeleMedicine can help your bottom line and provide the best care. Telemedicine is not just about convenience. Our on-staff team of TeleNocturnists can mean the difference between life and death.

Facilities with more hours per resident day of RNs, LPNs and CNAs have lower rates of readmissions.

With the industry trying to prevent costly penalizing readmissions (Protecting Access to Medicare Act), your facility could manage high acuity/complex patient care and help curb ER visits / readmissions. Our board-certified hospitalists understand the distinction between management that requires inpatient hospitalization and what can be treated as outpatient.

With TeleHealth Solution providing nocturnal coverage, your readmission rates will drastically decline—and so will your PAMA penalties. Your patients, their families, and your staff will be better off, but so will your finances. Here’s what you need to know about the financial cost of those penalties.

PAMA Penalties: The Skilled Nursing Facility 30-Day All Cause Readmission

Hospitals, CMS and nursing homes have begun to take a closer look at the Transitions of Care (TOC) data, particularly concerning hospital readmissions that occur within 30 days of discharge from an acute care hospital to a skilled nursing facility. Under Value Based Purchasing (VBP), a financial penalty is attached to poor performance on the hospital’s TOC measures. This has led to scrutiny of the causes of unscheduled readmissions, particularly those causes that may be beyond a hospital’s control. These readmissions are costly, put patients at risk for complications, and are largely preventable.

The huge issue of readmissions affects patients, their families, their nursing facilities, and the hospitals involved. CMS used 2010 research to understand the size and complexity of the issue. Approximately one out of every four (23.5%) patients discharged from an acute care hospital to a SNF will be readmitted within 30 days. There are substantial differences in hospital readmission rates by state, ranging from a low of 15.1% (Utah) to a high of 28.1% (Mississippi). The readmission rates do not appear to be related to income as the state with the highest median income (New Jersey) had a readmission rate similar to Mississippi’s (the state with the lowest median income).

TeleHealth Solution Skilled Nursing Facility PAMA Cost SavingsHowever, facility characteristics do appear to be related to hospital readmissions. Nursing homes with the following characteristics have higher hospital readmission rates:

  • Higher number of beds
  • For-profit facilities
  • Free-standing facilities
  • Facilities with a higher percentage of Medicaid patients

“TeleHealth Solution can protect your facility from PAMA readmission penalties, saving you money and keeping your patients comfortable in your facility with their favorite, familiar caregivers around them. TeleHealth Solution. Saving Time. Saving Money. Saving Lives.”