Trend to Watch: Healthcare Consolidation Aims to Close Gaps and Drive Value-Based Care In 2020, the continued – and growing – trend toward integrated production, including non-traditional partners, is helping to define an age of major transformation across the healthcare industry. While mergers and acquisitions between hospitals, health systems and physician practices may be waning, consolidation among unlikely partners has accelerated. These types of relationships include the ongoing integration between CVS and Aetna and the announced deal between Walmart and Amedysis. Read Full Post

A recent study conducted by the University of Texas Medical Branch adds to the research indicating that inpatient rehabilitation facilities (IRFs) are the best possible post-acute care option for patients who have suffered a stroke. Read Full Post

Partnerships thrive over decades in part because of their ability to succeed and adapt to change.

Take Kindred Hospital Rehabilitation Services (KHRS) and the acute rehabilitation unit (ARU) at Bayhealth Sussex Campus in Milford, Delaware, which KHRS has managed for more than two decades. The program continues to excel and recently moved to a 40-bed inpatient rehabilitation unit at Bayhealth’s new hospital located in the southernmost of the three Delaware counties, which is experiencing an influx of retirees.

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As value-based care reforms challenge hospitals to reduce costs and improve outcomes, one solution pursued by more and more hospitals and inpatient organizations is to outsource certain clinical and non-clinical services to third-party vendors. Read Full Post

A patient’s transition from one post-acute setting to another can present challenges, such as transportation issues or discharge complications. Knowing how to mitigate these challenges before they happen can enable care teams to avoid costly care transition delays that impact patient experience and outcomes. Read Full Post

Today’s healthcare environment is changing rapidly, resulting in increasing challenges for providers running acute rehabilitation programs. One of the most common obstacles is patient access. Read Full Post

Being accredited by the Commission on Accreditation of Rehabilitation Facilities (CARF) can help your program stand out. CARF accreditation ensures physicians are providing patients with care that meets internationally accepted standards; reinforces person-focused standards that emphasize an integrated and individualized approach to services and outcomes; establishes accountability to funding sources, referral agencies, and the community of a commitment to quality; and provides guidance for responsible management and professional growth of personnel. Read Full Post

The world of healthcare is becoming increasingly complex. Consequently, providers running inpatient rehabilitation programs are confronted with growing challenges – including the issue of reimbursement. Read Full Post

Kindred recently commented on Medicare’s 2020 proposed rule for freestanding and hospital-based inpatient rehabilitation facilities (IRFs). The response was consistent with Kindred’s mission to help patients reach their highest potential for health and healing with intensive medical and rehabilitative care through a compassionate patient experience. Read Full Post

Certificate of Need (CON) is a public policy tool which seeks to slow healthcare cost growth, avoid duplication of programs and services and ensure that new development meets the needs of the community. Nationally, only 12 states have no CON requirements. In Florida, the CON program was enacted in 1973 and applied to the building of new health centers or expansion of certain, complex medical services – including hospitals, nursing facilities, hospices and intermediate care facilities for the developmentally disabled. Read Full Post