The complete survey results are available. Please submit any questions or requests for the complete survey results to info@patientplacement.com.
Professionals working for skilled nursing facility providers express strong doubts that proposed accountable care organizations (ACOs) will benefit post-acute facilities or their patients, according to new survey results Patient Placement Systems (PPS) released today.
The survey also indicates that skilled nursing facilities (SNFs) do not clearly understand how they would participate in ACOs, and are thus slow to establish their ACO strategies.
There has been extensive speculation about the impact of ACOs on nursing homes and other post-acute providers since CMS issued the draft rule in March. SNF professionals remain uncertain about how or if ACOs will work, and most believe that ACO rules and structures as defined by CMS would not improve patient care or benefit SNFs.
Here are some of the survey results:
- Only 22 percent of SNF professionals agree or agree strongly that ACOs will be perceived as having improved patient care in five years.
- Only 25 percent say that ACOs will benefit skilled nursing facilities.
- Only 31 percent agree or strongly agree that “our organization has a clear understanding about how skilled nursing facilities will participate in ACOs.”
- High percentages of respondents (between 14 percent and 21 percent) communicated their uncertainty by answering “don’t know” to these survey items.
This lack of clarity and doubt about benefits seems to be affecting how, and how quickly, SNFs are preparing for ACOs. Although 53 percent agree or strongly agree that developing an ACO strategy is a “high priority for our organization,” preparation still lags:
- Just 22 percent of skilled nursing facility providers have an ACO strategy prepared
- 34 percent say they “don’t know” when their organization will develop an ACO strategy
- Just 27 percent expect to have a strategy within the next six months
We did note one positive response: 69 percent agreed or strongly agreed that “even without formal ACOs in place, our skilled nursing facilities collaborate with hospitals to improve the continuity and quality of patient care.”
That strong response seems to indicate that post-acute providers are and will continue to work with hospitals and doctors to improve accountability and patient outcomes. They are not waiting for a final ACO rule to start addressing the challenges of lowering costs and enhancing patient care.
UPDATE: Long-Term Living Magazine covers our SNF ACO survey results in today's online issue.
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