Effective October 1, 2018, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) will begin value-based purchasing for skilled nursing facilities (SNFs). CMS will base penalties and rewards exclusively on one measure: all-cause, 30-day hospital readmissions. The bottom 40% of SNFs on this measure face a 2% payment penalty from Medicare. Sixty percent of the payments withheld will be redistributed to the SNFs with the best rehospitalization rates. Since home health, hospice, and non-medical home care each play a role in preventing readmissions, new value-based purchasing represents marketing opportunities.

When CMS implemented similar financial incentives for hospitals in 2009, many discharge planners heard about it for the first time from home health marketing staff. Don’t assume that your contacts at your local SNFs are already aware of this. Be prepared to present SNF staff with material direct from CMS explaining the changes. Help your contacts go to their bosses with a ready-made success plan that includes referrals to your agency.

More importantly, be prepared to authoritatively demonstrate how your agency’s services can help the SNF win the readmissions bonuses. For instance, a study published in the Journal of the American Medical Directors Association shows that when SNFs discharge to home health, home health cuts 30-day rehospitalizations 39%.

When patients have a prognosis of six months or less, it is likely that hospice care will be able to provide the most appropriate and effective services. Studies published by the American Thoracic Society and the Journal of Oncology Practice demonstrate that hospitals with higher rates of hospice utilization realize better performance on 30-day readmission rates. It is also important for home hospice to teach SNFs that the readmission reduction effect of hospice depends on the number of days in hospice. Each five additional days in hospice improves readmission rates by 3%.

Discharge planners and certified home health agencies often overlook the role of non-medical home care in preventing unnecessary admissions to inpatient facilities. A study published in the Journal of the American Geriatrics Society shows that patients who report just one unmet need for assistance with activities of daily living (ADL) prove 12% more likely to be admitted to an inpatient facility. People who need assistance with two or more ADLs have a 37% higher mortality rate. Unmet ADL needs have proven to be better predictors of mortality and admissions than direct mental and functional tests. Home care agencies can offer to do free or no-obligation ADL assessments of recently discharged patients.

Now would be a good time develop your agency’s marketing plan for allying with local SNFs. For best results, use authoritative sources and scientific references to prove your point with the same professionalism that pharmaceutical reps offer. Call Brazzell Marketing Agency at 866-272-3799 if you would like assistance developing professional marketing materials for your agency.