CaringForward

SNFs Eagerly Adopting, Benefiting from Automated Online Bed Management with RMS

The response from skilled nursing facilies to the RMS Web-based bed management functionaility has been very enthusiastic. We have multi-location providers that have replaced their entire bed management tracking process with the integrated RMS bed management capabilities.

The bed management functionality of the Referral Management System meets the demands of skilled nursing providers, improving census management by enabling multi-location SNF facility end users and corporate managers to: 

• Seamlessly link bed assignment with the referral management process—assess bed availability for referrals and assign admitted patients to beds, all in one system with one work flow
• See updated census and bed availability at any time, for one or multiple facilities
• Intelligently match the placement of the right patients in the right beds, at the right facilities
• Review, select, reserve and place referred patients in beds
• Assign and track available, pending, occupied and closed beds
• Create and group beds by unit and room, and link beds to appropriate bathrooms
• Set gender assignments for beds
• Assign and view beds by payer types

We're curious about what tools your organization is using to track bed management today. Does your current process involve manual tracking tools such as whiteboards, spreadsheets or a combination of both? Would your organization benefit from automating bed and census management?

Post a comment to share your thoughts.

 

 

How is Your SNF Organization Capturing Census & Marketing Business Intelligence Today?

We work with SNF prospects everyday that we know struggle to capture meaningful information about census, marketing admissions performance. With the RMS CensusVision™ Executive Dashboards, we've been able to deliver valuable and meaningful information to executives at multi-location skilled nursing facilities.

CensusVision includes the following standard executive dashboards available within the Referral Management System:

• Referral win/loss, which provides a high-level graphical comparison of referrals won and lost during a specified period
• Admissions by payer, which shows admitted referrals per facility by payer type
• Decline referrals by payer, which highlights reasons that single, multiple or all facilities are declining referrals
• Lost referrals by payer, which highlights reasons facilities are losing referrals
• Total referrals by payer, which shows the total number of referrals by payer
• Admissions by custom-defined diagnosis, which provides of the admitted referrals per facility by custom defined categories

We're curious about whether or not your organization is currently able to capture this type of business intelligence and, if so, how. Post a comment today to provide your feedback.

 

 

Royal Health Group Increase SNF Referrals 19.6% with the Referral Management System

Yesterday we posted an update on Greystone Healthcare Management's big gains in Medicare census through improved marketing, referral management and admissions processes, enabled by the Web-based Referral Management System.

Today we look at Royal Health Group, a six-SNF provider in Massachusetts that also has documented significant improvements in operations and census performance since partnering with PPS to use the Referral Management System. Royal Health group previously documented how automation and live census trend and analysis reports have improve conversion rates, dropped response times by 80 percent, and driven overall revenue growth.

Royal Health Group recently provided some interesting new data: It's overall number of referrals handled has increased by 19.6 percent since it started using the RMS system at all six facilities in summer of 2010. In an increasingly competitive market, in which many SNFs report diminished referrals, a nearly 20 percent growth in less than two years marks a performance milestone.

Royal Health Group attributes the increase to the efficiency realized with the Web-based RMS solution, which enables the six facilities to handle more referrals and strengthen relationships with hospital referral sources. Those stronger referral source relationships make a huge difference, as Royal Health Group noted previously: “Case managers know they will get a decision and place patients faster.”

This quote from the original Royal Health Group success story, from Chief of Business Development James Mamary Jr., sums it up nicely:

“The system gives us unprecedented power to respond faster, outcompete other facilities and report trends and analysis we simply couldn’t capture before. The benefits have exceeded our expectations. We anticipate significant revenue growth through increased referral volumes and conversion rates, as well as a stronger reimbursement mix. That’s money we invest right back into our people and facilities to ensure exceptional care and quality of life for our residents.”

 

 

 

RMS Helps Greystone HCM Increases Medicare Patient Days By 11.5%

Greystone Healthcare Management has long documented significant returns and performance results from using the Web-based PPS Referral Management System. Within the first year of using the system, Greystone HCM reported the following:

• 73% faster referral response times, from 30 minutes to eight minutes
• 5% increase in overall census
• Referral conversion rates increased to 88% from 56%

That was in late 2010. Greystone HCM recently reviewed new performance data and documented continued performance gains, specifically related to increased Medicare market share. This data confirms that automated census management and live, accurate reporting help deliver continuous operational and financial results for SNF organizations. 

The New Data

Most recently, Greystone HCM compared Medicare patient days from January–October, 2010, with the same 10-month period in 2011. Across 27 skilled nursing facilities, Greystone HCM increased skilled patient days (Medicare and Medicare HMO) by 11.5 percent, or more than 20,000 total patient days, giving upward swings to total revenue.

This performance reflects Greystone HCM’s focused effort to offer specialized care delivery programs to attract and engage Medicare and HMO beneficiaries in their patient centered recovery programs. Greystone HCM credits the Referral Management System for helping its facilities and corporate managers adopt improved marketing, referral management and admissions processes. These processes improve speed and competitiveness, while providing reporting and business intelligence to document performance and guide successful strategies.

 

 

 

CensusVision™ Executive Dashboards Overview for SNFs now available

We've just published the CensusVision™ Executive Dashboards Overview, a document of census and admissions dashboards for skilled nursing facility (SNF) executives available with the Web-based Referral Management System.

The CensusVision Executive Dashboard Overview includes extensive details pertaining to the following standard executive dashboards available within the Referral Management System:

• Admissions by payer, which shows admitted referrals per facility by payer type
• Decline referrals by payer, which highlights reasons that single, multiple or all facilities are declining referrals
• Lost referrals by payer, which highlights reasons facilities are losing referrals
• Total referrals by payer, which shows the total number of referrals by payer
• Referral win/loss, which provides a high-level graphical comparison of referrals won and lost during a specified period
• Admissions by custom-defined diagnosis, which provides of the admitted referrals per facility by custom defined categories
• RMS System Adoption, which shows how many people are using the system , and how comprehensively they are using it

You can download the overview for free here: http://www.patientplacement.com/media/53897/rmsdashboardoverview012312.pdf

 

 

Tuesday Links: How to profit from new CMS regulation changes, New electronic claims regulation could save providers time, and more

Here are some recent items of interest for skilled nursing facilities:

• Has the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services underestimated us again? Shelly Measure with McKnight's seems to think so. An interesting article on how to profit from new CMS regulation changes.
• A recent article in McKnight's reports HHS: New electronic claims regualtion could save providers time, money.
• McKnight's article reports that republican presidential hopeful Rick Santorum says he favors privatizing Medicare and says he would like to see the elimination of the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services.
• Patricia Sheehan with Long-Term Living published an interesting profile recently about Golden Living. Learn how this multi-location skilled nursing facility leveraged technology to improve care collaboration.
• Sandra Hoban's recent article in Long-Term Living discusses positive aging through technology. Learn about how the Front Porch not-for-profit family of retirement communities, headquartered in Burbank, Calif., embraces a philosophy of identifying, researching and testing programs that help its residents enjoy fuller lives.

Friday Links: New Technology Program Using iPads, New Software Release from McKesson for Improved Medication Management, and more

Some additional items of interest for skilled nursing facilities:

• CRL Senior Living Communities has introduced two new programs, Seniors In Touch and iBraincercise, that empower community residents to make social networking and tablet computing a part of their daily lives.
• Health Dimensions Group will host the National Summit: Building the Continuum Essential for Success in Post-Health Care Reform February 1-3, 2012, in Phoenix, Arizona.
• The NewCourtland School of Practical Nursing celebrated its first graduation recently, marking the successful preparation of 20 students aspiring licensure, employment and service to the community as LPNs.
• New Software Release Drives Down Medication Cabinet Stock Outs and Improves Pharmacy and Nursing Efficiency
  
  
  

Thursday Links: Growth seen for telemedicine, HIMSS updates its ICD-10 Playbook, and more

Here are some recent items of interest for skilled nursing facilities:

• Telemedicine will play a much larger role in healthcare during 2012, according to a recent report from Euro RSCG.
• Jeron Electronic Systems has announced the release of its Provider 790 line of nurse call systems. This networked solution makes it possible to reach every corner of a facility, according to the firm.
• The Healthcare Information Management and Systems Society recently unveiled an updated version of its ICD-10 PlayBook. Among its new features: free access to its VitalVendors, which helps providers know which software firms have the resources to support an ICD-10 transition.
• Stock prices for Alexza Pharmaceuticals Inc. recently surged by 25% to 78 cents. This came after the Food and Drug Administration's Psychopharmacologic Drugs Advisory Committee conditionally backed the drugmaker's plan to sell an inhaled antipsychotic drug.
• A study of Paracetamol (a commonly-used pain medication) could pave the way to less harmful pain drugs in the future, according to investigators at King's College London.

Patient Placement Systems Enables Tracking of “Dual-Eligible” Patients in its Web-based Bed Management System for Skilled Nursing Facilities

We are pleased to announce the ability to identify and track coverage days remaining for dual-eligible patients within the Bed Management System, part of the 4.0 release of the Referral Management System:

Patient Placement Systems (PPS) announced today enhancements to its Web-based bed management system that allows skilled nursing facilities to identify and track coverage days remaining for dual-eligible patients—those eligible for both Medicare and Medicaid coverage. PPS included the dual-eligible functionality as part of the new 4.0 release of the Web-based Referral Management System.

Click here to learn more...

Wednesday Links: Bill would require speedier Medicaid reimbursements to SNFs, GOP bill discounting Medicare bad debt ignites skilled nursing backlash, and more

Here are some recent items of interest for skilled nursing facilities:

• Newly introduced legislation would require Medicaid to reimburse 90% of Medicaid providers, such as skilled nursing facilities, within 30 days, and any leftover claims within 90 days.
• GOP Bill discounting Medicare bad debt ignites skilled nursing backlash
• A former nursing home administrator was found guilty of receiving illegal payments for referring residents for fraudulent ambulance transport services.
• An MRI scan that detects atrophy patterns in the brains of Alzheimer's patients also can detect cognitive decline in Parkinson's patients, a new finds.
• The Senate Special Committee on Aging is holding a forum Wednesday to commemorate the committee's 50^th anniversary, titled: “Aging in America: Future Challenges, Promise and Potential.”