Nursing Homes Get Makeovers
To capture a new part of the market, nursing homes and long term care facilities are undertaking major renovations. The makeovers are part of plans to attract more patients that stay short term for rehabilitation, who have the potential to generate significant revenue for the facilities.
Some nursing homes in Florida are now seeing a census rate where rehab patients comprise almost half of the residents, most of whom stay at facilities for less than a month. Rehab patients are frequently covered by Medicare, which provides higher reimbursement compared to Medicaid. Most patients in long term care facilities are covered by Medicaid.
Medicare is motivated to move patients out of hospitals for rehabilitation services; the cost of rehab at long-term care facilities is 33-55 percent lower than in acute care facilities. However, some argue that the quality of rehabilitative care at nursing homes is not as good as that in hospitals. Though recent data shows that such care is improving. See the Baltimore Sun for more.
Related stories:
- Updated Inpatient Facilities in Chicago
- AIA 2006 Guidelines Include Single-Bed Rooms
- New Hospital Designs for Better Quality of Care, Stay
March 28, 2007 Related topics: Facilities