For Patient-Driven Payment Model (PDPM) for Skilled Nursing Facilities with Rehabs:
October is here and the Payment Changes are in force!
What are you seeing?
Most of the agencies I am working with are seeing a change in therapy availability ? as in many Skilled Nursing Facilities have decreased their need for therapists ? and this might be the opportunity you have been waiting for in Medicare-certified home health.
If you have been struggling to find a therapist or perhaps finding a therapist that you can afford, we are seeing more availability now. Maybe you have wanted to have more therapy on the weekends. The contractors that were once in the Skilled Nursing Facilities with Rehab may have more availability to pick up visits for you!
The continuity of care between the Skilled Nursing Facility and Home can be a great asset. I know when I was an Occupational Therapist in the Skilled Nursing Facility world ? I knew exactly what that patient could do in the clinic or gym. There were times when I did per-visit work for a Home Health and would have the luxury of caring for that same patient at home. The benefit was that I had a therapeutic relationship in place with that patient and their family. I understood their abilities and their limitations. There was no ?backslide? in function once they returned home. We moved forward together. This might be your opportunity to keep that therapeutic rapport in place, too if you are in a position where you would like to explore if there are therapists who might want to pick up visits for you.
Now is your time.
Visit your Skilled Nursing Facility’s therapy department ask the lead therapist if they have therapists who need more productivity or perhaps therapists who were working at the building, but due to changes, they are no longer there but would like to pick up visits for you.
Steps to exploring therapy opportunity if you are looking for therapy flexibility:
- Visit the therapy department during your routine sales calls to the SNF
- Ask if they have therapists who are looking for ?work? or ?visits?
- Gain the names of the therapist or contracted therapy company
- Give the information to your administrator or HR to contact them for possible synergy.
During change, there is always opportunity.
This opportunity, as the payment changes impact the Skilled Nursing Facilities, may be your opportunity to gain staff for your agency, allowing you more options and flexibility.
Serve More Seniors!
Melanie
P.S. Some of you might be thinking – WAIT PDGM is coming why are you talking about therapy – our therapy payment is about to go bye-bye too!
The directive that I am giving to all of my personal consulting clients is – do what is best for the patient. We must get all the patients who deserve care – CARE. Fill the pipeline for the 4th quarter so that you have enough cash on hand to weather the cash flow crunch with the reduction of RAPs come January. You will always be right when you are patient-centric!
