CASE STUDY

Using Data to Reduce Skilled Nursing Facility Readmissions Creates Better Patient Outcomes

For health systems across the country, readmissions have become a crucial metric. A health system’s readmission rate is a key indicator of care quality and the effectiveness of discharge planning. Even more, Medicare has been penalizing hospitals financially for readmissions. In 2019 CMS penalized the vast majority of skilled nursing facilities (SNFs) on their Medicare payments for fiscal 2019 for poor 30-day readmission rates back to hospitals.

A large partnership of affiliated physicians in the northeast transformed its SNF referral process by acquiring the right data and making swift changes. As a result, patient outcomes improved, and the organization reaped financial rewards – a sharp contrast to the penalties most health systems face as a result of readmissions following patients’ SNF stays.