Accountability for readmissions still rests with the acute care hospital and can result in financial penalties as patients bounce back to the facility following discharge. The question therefore is; who is following the patient beyond the discharge date? Unfortunately many facilities have no idea what may be happening to the patients once released from care. This can cost a hospital up to 3% in penalties.
Companies specializing in Post Acute Care Management (PACM) of patients have been partnering with hospitals nationwide to ease the burden of monitoring and following discharged patients. From simple recoveries to the more complex multi-issue patients, PACM is now a vital part of the healthcare continuum. The June issue of South Florida Hospital News and Healthcare report http://southfloridahospitalnews.com/images/file/SFHN%2006%2015.pdf quotes Nancy Rubio of Transition Care of America as saying, “it absolutely is possible for a hospital to manage its high risk, high acuity patients as they are in the process of discharge and after they have returned to the place they call home.” A service such as those her company provides has shown to significantly lower the readmission rate and reduces the likelihood of penalties assessed to the hospital.
In this time of reduced insurance and governmental reimbursements hospitals are looking for ways to reduce costs and expenses. One clear way is to avoid financial sanctions due to readmission issues.
Increased cash flow can help to pay for these cost savings services available to hospitals. Xynergy Healthcare Capital provides that kind of cash flow solution.
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