Hospitals participating in Medicare’s Comprehensive Care for Joint Replacement model and its Bundled Payments for Care Improvement program are finding the savings the program seeks in part through greater attention to the post-acute-care needs of their patients.
As a new study has found:
One principal strategy was to reduce SNF referrals, using risk-stratification tools, patient education, home care supports, and linkages with home health agencies to facilitate discharges to home. Another was to enhance integration with SNFs: fifteen hospitals or health systems in our sample had formed networks of preferred SNFs to exert influence over SNF quality and costs.
Learn more about how hospitals are producing savings through bundled care programs in the study “Hospitals Using Bundled Payment Report Reducing Skilled Nursing Facility Use and Improving Care Integration,” which can be found here, on the Health Affairs Blog.