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22 EXECUTIVE BRIEFING 1 EXECUTIVE BRIEFING SPONSORED BY A s financial strain continues to impact hospitals across the country, health leaders are seeking partnership to increase financial stability amid an ever-changing healthcare landscape. Partnership can help hospitals effectively obtain additional resources to provide high-quality patient care, strengthen service lines and improve access and the overall patient experience. Proactively identifying growth and efficiency opportunities that will treat the needs of patients brought on by or exacerbated by the pandemic, while also bolstering the hospital's bottom line, is key to hospital success. Partnering with an experienced post-acute provider benefits the care continuum and can have substantial influence on hospital outcomes. 1 5 Benefits of Rehabilitation Partnership for Overall Hospital Success With the help of an experienced partner, hospitals can enhance their post-acute strategies in five key ways: 1. Improved Performance Under Value-Based Care The shift to value-based care has pushed hospitals to reduce spending while improving quality and outcomes. In a study of value-based trends, it was found that more than a third of national reimbursement contracts are now value-based. This percentage has trended upward every year since 2015. 1 A post-acute partnership strategy helps equip hospital staff and leadership with the resources to increase care quality and efficiency, make more timely transfers to post- acute settings, reduce readmission risk and generate long-term cost savings for the entire hospital. 2. Increased Care Efficiency to Reduce Readmissions Rehospitalizations and other transfers in the post- acute continuum can lead to poor patient satisfaction and care quality, ultimately creating negative financial consequences. Research shows that some of the lowest- performing hospitals around the nation can experience readmission penalties two to three times higher than those performing at an average rate. 2 Through specialized expertise, access to national resources and data, and a team with a focused ability to recruit and retain top talent, a rehabilitation partner can greatly expand a hospital's ability to provide excellent patient care in an efficient manner. Further, a rehabilitation partner can help produce faster recovery times, reduce care costs and can create a more positive overall patient experience. 3. Supports Medicare's "Triple Aim" Successfully managing all aspects of a rehabilitation unit has become more challenging due to the growing complexity of patients treated, readmission risks and the expansion of value-based care integration. However, if a hospital is able to achieve an effective post-acute strategy they can better manage the intricacies of the program. Rehabilitation partnership supports Medicare's triple aim, helping to: • Enhance care. Provide exceptional care to individuals through high-quality programs aimed at improving a patient's health and independence. • Improve community health. Experienced partners have access to the latest national trends and resources beyond the data available to individual facilities. This allows local programs to be equipped with best- in-class treatment plans to effectively treat a wider variety of complex conditions. • Lower care cost. Greater patient access, expertise and quality lead to better outcomes, lower length of stay and lower readmissions. Additionally, facilities are able to more effectively deploy resources and improve operational efficiency, further lowering costs. Five Financial Benefits of Rehabilitation Partnership 1 Gold, J., & Duvall, S. (2020, June). The Next Decade of Value-Based Care. Hany's Managed Care. https://www.hanys.org/communications/publications/ healthcare_intelligence_reports/docs/2020-06_the_next_decade_of_value_based_care.pdf 2 Fary Khan, MBBS, MD, FAFRM (RACP), Bhasker Amatya, DMedSci, MD, MPH, Medical Rehabilitation in Pandemics: Towards a New Perspective, Journal of Rehabilitation Medicine, Vol. 52, Issue 4, April 9, 2020 Read this article to discover how hospital leaders can overcome today's unique challenges and make the most of the growing opportunity through joint- venture or contract management rehabilitation partnership – ultimately benefitting your hospital's financial performance.