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Resources by Topic: Post-acute care

Why Use Swing Beds? Conversations with Hospital Administrators and Staff
Includes interviews of hospital administrators and staff about the use of swing beds, including Critical Access Hospitals (CAHs). Addresses the role of swing beds in patient care, swing bed volume and financial considerations, swing beds in the context of all community post-acute skilled care, and swing beds as a benefit for community residents.
Author(s): Victoria A. Freeman, Andrea Radford
Date: 04/2012
Type: Document
Sponsoring organization: North Carolina Rural Health Research Program
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Effect of Swing Bed Use on Medicare Average Daily Cost and Reimbursement in Critical Access Hospitals
Estimates the average net cost to Medicare of a skilled nursing facility swing day by simulating the elimination of all Medicare skilled nursing facility swing bed days in Critical Access Hospitals in 2009.
Author(s): Kristin L. Reiter, George M. Holmes, George H. Pink, Victoria A. Freeman
Date: 12/2011
Type: Document
Sponsoring organization: North Carolina Rural Health Research Program
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Trends in Skilled Nursing Facility and Swing Bed Use in Rural Areas Following the Medicare Modernization Act of 2003
Provides descriptive evidence on current trends in the availability and use of swing beds and skilled nursing facility services in rural areas.
Additional links: Findings Brief
Author(s): Kristin L. Reiter, Victoria A. Freeman
Date: 04/2011
Type: Document
Sponsoring organization: North Carolina Rural Health Research Program
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Provision of Long Term Care Services by Critical Access Hospitals: Are Things Changing?
Describes trends in access to post-acute and long-term care services in rural areas. Discusses the role Critical Access Hospitals (CAHs) play and how their role could change.
Author(s): Melanie Race, John Gale, Andrew Coburn
Date: 03/2011
Type: Document
Sponsoring organization: Flex Monitoring Team
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Rural Issues Related to Bundled Payments for Acute Care Episodes
Describes challenges to implementing bundled payments in rural settings and discusses potential contracting and reimbursement strategies to address these challenges.
Author(s): Robert Town, Walter Gregg, Ira Moscovice, et al.
Date: 06/2009
Type: Document
Sponsoring organization: Upper Midwest Rural Health Research Center
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Trends in Skilled Nursing and Swing-bed Use in Rural Areas, 1996-2003
Examines trends in the delivery of skilled nursing facility (SNF) services in rural areas during a period of dramatic change in Medicare payments. Focuses on the role of rural hospitals in providing SNF services, as a number of regulatory changes occurred between 1998 and 2002 that could potentially influence hospital provision of skilled nursing care.
Author(s): Kathleen Dalton, Jeongyoung Park, Ann Howard, Rebecca Slifkin
Date: 12/2005
Type: Document
Sponsoring organization: North Carolina Rural Health Research Program
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Patterns Of Post-Acute Utilization In Rural and Urban Communities: Home Health, Skilled Nursing, and Inpatient Medical Rehabilitation
Describes rural Medicare beneficiaries' patterns of post-acute utilization of home health services, skilled nursing facilities, and inpatient rehabilitation facilities. Provides baseline data that policymakers, researchers, and others who are interested in rural healthcare issues may use to monitor how changes in Medicare policies affect access to post-acute care in rural areas.
Author(s): Janet P. Sutton
Date: 03/2005
Type: Document
Sponsoring organization: NORC Walsh Center for Rural Health Analysis
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Scope of Services Offered by Critical Access Hospitals: Results of the 2004 National CAH Survey
Examines how Critical Access Hospital (CAH) services have changed over time, based on 2000, 2002, and 2004 survey data. Discusses the role of network affiliations in service changes and reasons for reported service expansions.
Author(s): David Hartley, Stephenie Loux
Date: 03/2005
Type: Document
Sponsoring organization: Flex Monitoring Team
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Exploring the Impact of Medicare's Post-Acute Care Transfer Payment Policy on Rural Hospitals
Describes a change in Medicare post-acute transfer payment policy and its impact on rural and urban hospitals. Includes data on the financial impact and hospital discharge behavior before and after the change.
Author(s): Julie A. Schoenman
Date: 07/2004
Type: Document
Sponsoring organization: NORC Walsh Center for Rural Health Analysis
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Rural Implications of Medicare's Post-Acute Care Transfer Payment Policy
Reports results of a study that examines the behavioral and financial impacts of a change in Medicare payment to pay acute-care hospital cases in 10 DRGs as transfers instead of discharges when the patient is discharged to a targeted post-acute care (PAC) provider after a short inpatient stay. Also projects the likely financial impact of extending the policy to cover additional DRGs or discharges to swing beds.
Author(s): Julie A. Schoenman
Date: 06/2004
Type: Document
Sponsoring organization: NORC Walsh Center for Rural Health Analysis
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