title: Outpatient woes are driving up hospital costs, length of stay.
abstract: The financial difficulties being experienced by skilled nursing facilities because of a new Prospective Payment System and a reimbursement cap for rehabilitation services are beginning to affect the financial health of hospitals as well. With some nursing homes closing their skilled beds and others refusing to accept high-cost patients, discharge planners are having to scramble to find appropriate facilities in which to place patients needing ongoing care. At some facilities, discharge delays are driving up lengths of stay for patients by as much as three weeks. In San Antonio, one facility has brought two of its three freestanding rehab clinics back into the hospital to avoid the financial impact of the reimbursement cap, which only applies to outpatient facilities.
mesh_terms: D019090:Case Management / Q000191:economics; D003266:Continuity of Patient Care / Q000191:economics / Q000458:organization & administration; D017721:Hospital Costs / Q000639:trends*; D007902:Length of Stay / Q000191:economics*; D006278:Medicare / Q000191:economics; D010351:Patient Discharge / Q000191:economics* / Q000639:trends; D010360:Patient Transfer / Q000191:economics; D011445:Prospective Payment System; D012866:Skilled Nursing Facilities / Q000191:economics; D014481:United States