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Encore Keynote

Encore Keynote – March 2022

By March 1, 2022August 9th, 2022No Comments

-Encore Rehabilitation’s monthly publication, designed to give you updates on trends we are seeing in the Post-Acute Care industry.- 

LONG-TERM CARE ADMINISTRATORS WEEK

MARCH 14-18

As the need for nursing home administrators increases, the Bureau of Labor Statistics predicts the field of healthcare administration to grow three times faster than the national average over the next ten years. The CDC estimates that there are approximately 1.4 million nursing home residents. The US Census Bureau reports that the number of people 65 and over is expected to double over the next four years, which in turn, will make the need for nursing home administrators even greater.

Nursing home administrators are responsible for supervising the clinical and administrative matters of nursing homes and other related facilities.

This isn’t as cut and dry as it may appear. While nursing home administrators are responsible for the business and organizational side of our skilled and long-term care facilities they are also involved at a personal level focusing on resident care.   They manage all staff and personnel, financial matters, medical care, medical supplies, facilities, and other tasks that come up from day to day. Two of the top priorities of a nursing home administrator are ensuring quality and safety in their home.

Although the business side of the job is significant, the nursing home administrator job is primarily about people and people taking care of people. This position is responsible for the care of our aging that are often medically fragile. NHAs are the liaison between staff, residents, families, and doctors.

You can often find our nursing home administrators walking the halls talking with staff, speaking to our residents, and meeting with family members.

Overall our nursing home administrators display strong leadership and financial skills while having an in-depth understanding of the aging process and medical industry. Their job is not an 8 to 5 kind of job. It is truly a 24-hour position. We want to send out a huge thank you to each of our nursing home administrators for their involvement in creating relationships with our elders and the compassion that you show during a time when our most valued members of society need it the most.

Thank you for your hard work and for serving our residents!

Rehab Roundtable

Restorative Nursing – Impact on Resident Care and Quality Measures

Objectives

  • Examine the Differences between Traditional Rehabilitative Therapy, Maintenance Therapy, and Restorative Nursing
  • Discuss Methods Used to Identify Residents for Restorative Nursing Programs
  • Discuss the Importance of IDT Communications
  • Review the Documentation Requirements
  • Explore Methods for Implementing and Maintaining Restorative Nursing Programs
  • Provide an Overview of Sample Restorative Nursing Programs
  • Discuss the Impact on Quality Measures, 5-Star Rating, and CMS’ Care Compare
Watch the Video

ENCORE IS A PROUD SPONSOR OF:

NASL’S VIRTUAL 2022 WINTER LEGISLATIVE & REGULATORY CONFERENCE

Register today
Did you know?

ENCORE HAS AN APPEALS MANAGEMENT DEPARTMENT

Encore’s operations include a variety of support departments encompassing many value-added services. One of the departments we are highlighting this month is the Appeals Management Department.
Medicare provider audit activity has resumed after being temporarily suspended due to the public health emergency.  Each customer is assigned their own dedicated Appeals Management Specialist (AMS) to assist each facility through every step of the process once an audit notice or request for medical records is received to ensure a thorough and timely response. The assigned AMS works with the facility to coordinate responses to medical record requests and audits that providers receive from Medicare and other insurance entities, as well as to appeal denials of therapy-related services.
The team is made up of medical professionals from a variety of backgrounds to ensure an interdisciplinary approach and includes nurses and therapists, many of whom are RAC-CT certified to also assist with MDS-related questions.The Appeals Department can help to streamline the audit and appeal processes by utilizing an internal tracking system to promote the best outcomes and ensure clear customer communication.The Appeals Department helps to reduce the potential of denials or takebacks by:
  • Performing a review of the therapy documentation to ensure all required components are present prior to submission and provide directives on other specific medical record elements and parameters needed to respond to requests- some of which may not be listed or clearly communicated on the request.
  • Providing the customer with feedback based on identified trends in the industry, or payer-specific trends and issues, to proactively ensure potential areas under scrutiny are addressed to reduce denials.
  • Collaborating with our Clinical Specialists in education to provide specific training as needs are identified.

If your facility receives a request for records or audit notice, please notify your Appeals Management Specialist. Need more information on who to contact? Please reach out to Pamela Boldrey at:

pboldrey@encorerehabilitation.com

ADVISORY BOARD

The Advisory Board Company

Encore has access to healthcare industry insights and data analytics tools via a platform called Advisory Board. Advisory Board provides Encore access to comprehensive data reports for acute and post-acute providers.
Data reports can identify:

  • Where hospitals are discharging their patients
  • The quantity of patient admissions to SNFs
  • Provider quality ratings
  • Spending trends for defined markets
  • Identifies trends throughout the post-acute care continuum
  • And more

Using tools such as these from Advisory Board helps Encore and our customers better understand the market’s Medicare dynamics, thus optimizing decision-making and improving overall quality and efficiency.

What can the Advisory Board data analytics tools tell you about your SNF and your competitors?

  • Post-discharge settings (SNF, Home Health, Hospice, IRF, LTCH) hospitals are sending their patients.
  • The types of patients local hospitals are discharging most frequently to post-acute care settings. (i.e. cardiac services, general medicine, neurology,
  • and orthopedics)
  • How the cost of care per beneficiary stay and length of stay at your location compares to competitors.
  • Where patients go after they leave a SNF.
  • What SNFs in your market have the best overall star ratings.

If you are interested in learning how Encore can provide you with data reports detailing information on analytics such as 30-day all-cause hospital readmission rates, 5-star ratings, cost per Medicare encounter, hospital discharge trends, and more, contact your Encore Regional Vice President.

DIABETES AND REHABILITATION IN SNFS

March is the month where many of us impatiently wait with anticipation for the end of cold, winter days and look forward to what warmer weather and sunshine will bring. Wintertime, when the days are short, with darkness lasting longer than the daylight, is when bad habits of minimal physical activity and eating unhealthy foods and snacks are often formed. For those with diabetes, maintaining those wintertime bad habits can be detrimental to their health, as uncontrolled diabetes can lead to conditions such as hearing loss, heart disease or stroke, kidney disease, high blood pressure, and neuropathy, to name a few.
There are two different types of diabetes.
  • Type 1 diabetes is an autoimmune condition that occurs when the body’s immune system attacks cells living in the tissue of the pancreas. When the pancreas produces little to no insulin, blood sugar can’t get into cells and builds up in the bloodstream, which can be damaging to the body. Up to 10% of diabetic patients are diagnosed with Type 1 diabetes. It is most common in young people but can develop at any age.
  • Type 2 diabetes is caused by insulin resistance, which is due to a combination of lifestyle and genetic factors. Factors such as being overweight, having a diet that includes a lot of sugar and carbohydrates, and low levels of physical activity can lead to type 2 diabetes. There is no cure, but it can be managed or reversed with diet and exercise.
In addition to what we already know about diabetes, researchers have found that 14% of patients who experience a severe case of COVID-19 have developed new-onset of both Type 1 and Type 2 diabetes. Although some of the patients who developed diabetes had other risk factors for the condition, many of those diagnosed with diabetes did not have any risk factors prior to contracting the virus. What does this mean for our residents?
Our residents need us to intervene and create healthy lifestyles and communities where they can maintain their health and wellness for years to come.
  • Identify resident needs, create patient-centered care plans
  • Provide IDT programming to address medical, emotional, and wellness approaches to care
  • Educate residents on how they can impact their health through food and exercise
  • Train staff on diabetes and associated symptoms such as fatigue, hunger, frequent urination, thirstiness, blurred vision, headaches, insomnia, mood changes, slow healing, pain & numbness in the feet and legs, weight loss, and changes in heart rate

It is estimated that 1 in 3 adults in the United States will have type 2 diabetes by the year 2050.
We can combat the effects of diabetes within our SNF communities by coming together and providing the daily nutrition and activity all of our residents need and would benefit from. A great place to start is by establishing community-wide healthy living initiatives and activities such as walking programs.

Let’s help our residents maintain healthy habits. In doing so, we might just minimize the risks of diabetes and other chronic health conditions, giving residents something to look forward to as the winter days are ending and the anticipation of what sunny springtime days will bring.

WALK AROUND THE WORLD UPDATE

Encore is off on our Walk Around the World steps challenge.
Starting from Encore HQ in Farmington Hills, MI, we have made pit stops along the way including:
  • Saint-Jean Gate – Old Québec City, Canada
  • Notre-Dame de Québec Basilica-Cathedral – Québec, Canada
  • Hôtel de Glace – Québec, Canada
  • The Alley Studios, NYC
  • Fenway Park – Boston
  • Newport, RI
  • Rock & Roll Hall of Fame – Cleveland
  • Fallingwater – Mill Run, PA

Where will we go next? Stay tuned!