Story highlights Expanding the hours available for residents is creating a short waitlist
Promotional programs are helpful, but often delayed approval is preventing success
Seeing the hospital ribbon cut can be a surprising highlight of the nursing home life for a nursing home resident. Even more so, nursing homes and nursing stations are sometimes compared to hospitals (a false comparison) and patients will benefit from the convenience of free or reduced-rate services.
Looking to get residents better access to lower-cost and expedited services, most states are implementing the first-time caregiver registration system (FNR) programs, and these programs are starting to prove successful, according to a new WalletHub report.
Using both data from the U.S. Census Bureau and the Council on Aging, the report analyzed the effectiveness of FNR programs nationwide across 14 metrics, including hospital discharge rates, hospital readmission rates, insurance premiums and minimum attendance.
Among the data points examined, the most consistent trends the report found were the positive impact of FNR programs on hospital readmission rates and occupancy rates for nursing homes.
More on reducing hospital readmission rates: 27 states took into account Medicaid’s utilization of outpatient rehab services in their FNR planning, and 27 percent of state Medicaid-funded care did not go to inpatient rehabilitation. Similarly, 27 percent of state Medicaid-funded care did not go to inpatient inpatient rehabilitation, according to findings from the report.
Of the 22 states that did include Medicaid care for inpatient rehabilitation, the average utilization was 83 percent, compared to a statewide average of 75 percent. That suggests that FNR programs are indeed helpful to private paying residents.
When it comes to the cost for an inpatient rehab visit, reimbursement varies by state. On average, it’s about a $4,558 reimbursement in Utah and $4,764 in Montana.
Below, WalletHub shares some real-life examples of FNR programs that have been implemented recently. The end result was an increase in patients, and an improved patient experience in each case.
Source: MoneyTips