Long-term care hospitals render post-acute therapies and rehabilitative services for those patients who need special and lengthy clinical attention (inpatient service for more than 25 days); such services include but are not limited to pain management, holistic and thorough rehabilitation, respiratory treatment, and psychotherapy.
The mechanisms governing the management, financing, and quality in the long-term care hospital have been adjusted over time to guarantee cost-effective, high-quality long-term care hospital services are offered to patients and clients alike. The federal government has instituted the necessary legislative policies to streamline the functions, charge rate, and autonomy of Long-term care hospitals (Kuhn, 2006, p. 1). This information has been unearthed by medical scholars under the directive of the federal government, facilitated by research grants, with findings advocating for more federal incentives to Long-term care hospitals. A prospective payment system has also been outlined to provide and regulate long-term care hospital fee charges. Such an initiative will not only realize an increase in the number of Long-term care hospitals but also sufficiently equip long-term care hospitals with the much-needed clinical labor force (C.M.S, 2011, p. 1).
The long-term care reimbursement system is also in a process of change to ensure both consumer satisfaction and maximize benefits for health care providers. Long term care reimbursement system is steered by the federal incentives, policies, laws, and rates of such federal organs as the Medicare scheme, LTCH PPS (Long-term care hospital prospective payment system), and the Medicare Payment Advisory Commission (Med PAC) which also regulates LTCHs by their constant surveillance mechanisms. For instance, LTCH clients have been the main beneficiaries of the Medicare scheme, with an approximate allocation of 83% (Kuhn, 2006, p. 1). The payment rates are depended on the operating costs of medically complex patients, psychiatric services, and rehabilitative necessities.
The government and private sector have demonstrated unwavering support for efforts towards capacity building in long-term care hospitals, this is not only evident through the institution of proper medical policies, provision of incentives, control of the market – demand variables In LTCH, supplementing LTCH, staffing LTCH but also in the provision of federal research grants to LTCH scholars facilitating timely interventions to long-term care hospital service provision (Berenson, 2010, p. 1). Although the government does chip in and provide multi-varied incentives the clients (patients) must finance their long-term medical care to a certain extent. With effect, the government welcomes an open forum aimed at updating the current long-term care framework for upcoming reference. As such, the policies governing LTCH are always tailored towards cost-effective and quality medical therapy, satisfying both the client and the health care provider.
Diverse day-to-day needs of long-term care consumers demand an adjustment to the normal LTCH schedule, a special case that should not escape the attention of the charge rates framework is the group of patients who spend less than 7 days under medical care (short-stay outliers – SSO). Such short-lived discharge subsets often demand that their medical expenses be lower than that of their long-term discharge counterparts (Berenson, 2010, p. 1). Although it has been argued by many health care control agencies that short-term outliers should be admitted in acute care hospitals to ease congestion in Long-term care hospitals, others fear that the patients would be exposed to the unnecessary financial burden charged by acute care hospitals. Thus, many healthcare providers hold the view that the expansion of LTCHs through the facilitation of monetary incentives would accommodate a great majority of short-stay outliers in long-term care hospitals where they would be accorded effective medical services at reduced charges.
Reference List
Berenson, A (2010). Long-Term Care Hospital Face Little Scrutiny. Web.
CMS. (2011), Long-Term Care Hospital PPS Overview. Web.
Kuhn, H. (2006). Long-Term Care Hospitals. Web.