Becker's Hospital Review

30 Executive Briefing SPONSORED BY M edically complex and critically ill patients now makes up 10% of the overall Medicare population, translating into four million individuals around the nation. This rapidly growing population continues to consume a disproportionate amount of acute healthcare resources and has a significantly higher-than-average likelihood of hospital admissions and readmissions. 1 These individuals experiencing chronic illnesses require intensive and specialized care within a facility equipped to meet their needs. Long-term acute care hospitals (LTACHs) have demonstrated favorable outcomes in treating and discharging these high-acuity patients back home or to a lower level of care. Read this brief to discover four key benefits of LTACH integration on a health system's care continuum. How long-term acute care within a hospital helps generate superior outcomes Whether a health system constructs a freestanding LTACH or incorporates a hospital-in-hospital (HiH) structure, medically complex patients can receive the specialized care they need. Through an HiH, a hospital can offer specialty services within the system's continuum of care, opening the door to more high-quality programs that will positively impact the facility and community. The HiH structure, combining multiple levels of medical, rehabilitative and psychological services tied to a single system, also supports continuity of physician and specialist oversight of patient care. In order to strengthen the long-term acute care offering, health systems are looking for an experienced partner who is well- equipped to handle the complexities and sensitivities found in this population. Four key benefits of LTACH partnership include: 1. Lowered Short-Term Acute Care Length of Stay Integration of an LTACH through a strategic partnership enables a hospital to identify patients best suited for long-term acute care. This ultimately reduces unnecessary treatment in another setting and provides the high-quality, specialized care needed to reduce rehospitalization risk and improve patient satisfaction and outcomes within the health system as a whole. A specialized LTACH partner will be able to identify qualified LTACH patients earlier. This is done by: • Engaging and coordinating with executive sponsor physicians and care managers. • Identifying and transferring LTACH-appropriate patients with the help of designated clinical liaisons. • Monitoring results through weekly performance report reviews with a hospital's care management team. As a result, an LTACH partner can produce outcomes that decrease average length of stay (ALOS) and improve patient outcomes and financial performance for short-term acute care hospitals (STACHs). 2. Decreased Readmissions to Acute Care Hospitals Appropriate utilization of an LTACH's resources for treating critically ill patients helps to significantly reduce the risk of readmission compared to other post-acute settings. Having a partner with a robust team of national recruiters who can help identify qualified, engaged and devoted candidates can improve patient outcomes and help produce greater access to resources and specialized expertise. Benefits of LTACH partnership for hospital success These individuals experiencing chronic illnesses require intensive and specialized care within a facility equipped to meet their needs. Long- term acute care hospitals (LTACHs) have demonstrated favorable outcomes in treating and discharging these high-acuity patients back home or to a lower level of care."

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