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Lowered Census and the economy


bigchris

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We have noticed at our facility, some distinct trends in other facilities and even on the hospitals. Other facilities have "loosened" thier admissions and are taking residents who problably wouldn't be there in better times. We just found "on the news" that more hospitals are keeping thier patients longer than the average.

 

 

Is this happening in your area? If so, why? Have you seen the same results???

 

 

BC

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Chris:

 

I am located in Upper Michigan. We are one of four facilities in Upper Michigan that were chosen to participate in a pilot program called "Single Point of Entry" which is a set of criteria set by the government requiring that a families loved one meets these guidelines in order to qualify for Long Term Care placement. The criteria is directly related to the MDS i.e. cognitive status, ADL status, Therapies etc. Depending on how much care the individual needs and how independent or not; the criteria gives the person a score. If the score is too low, the person does not qualify for Long Term Care placement and the family has to seek other alternatives for placement; Assisted Living, Adult Day Care, remaing at home, etc. All of this is directly related to Medicare cuts by the goverment. Long Term Care is the most expensive placement of the above listed therefore alternatives are the governmental trends and choices. Many of the others are also private pay before they are Medicare paid.

 

After all that said! Because of that, we have had to downsize our facility. When I started here 9 years ago we were a 99 bed facility. We have downsized three times and now are a 60 bed facility due to Medicare cuts, the Single Point of Entry and the process making it tougher to get into Long Term Care. We no longer have a waiting list, that with the fact that Assisted Living facilities seem to be popping up all over the place. As far as Hospital stays, the trend seems to remain the same as always. Insurance Companies run the purse strings and patients stay just as long as needed and are sent home as soon as possible.

 

Long story but hope this helps!

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