Digital Tools to Define, Grow, and Market Swing Bed Programs
Stroudwater encourages the expanded use of rural hospital swing beds to achieve the goal of increased access, efficiency and safety for rural patients. To that end, Stroudwater hosts a secure, web-based application to inventory the full spectrum of inpatient post-acute skilled services available at each rural hospital as a catalyst for hospitals to define, expand when possible, and market their services to regional referral partners.
The Stroudwater profile includes a comprehensive portfolio of patient care services that can be offered in rural swing bed programs and asks hospitals to identify the services they currently offer based on available resources and staff. This resulting digital matrix of swing bed services provides a statewide and/or hospital-specific infrastructure to:
- Audit existing inpatient post-acute skilled services based on our swing bed care spectrum
- Identify clinical, operational and infrastructure barriers that inhibit swing bed admissions
- Analyze gaps in patient care services to identify opportunities for service line growth by clarifying the types of skilled medical and physical rehabilitation programs and/or capabilities that can be developed to meet the referring hospitals’ skilled care needs
- Create micro-networks to help hospitals add new swing bed services through peer hospital matching and knowledge exchange (state specific)
- Provide a 360-degree view of statewide post-acute skilled services (state specific)
Critical Access Hospital Swing Bed Programs Outperform Skilled Nursing Facilities on Quality Performance
Regulatory Compliance
Swing Bed programs are unique in their regulatory compliance needs. These important patient care services must adhere to hospital (PPS or CAH) Conditions of Participation (CoP) and the Long-Term Care guidelines specific to skilled nursing services as well as individual state requirements.
Stroudwater offers several solutions to assist organizations to ensure their existing Swing Bed programs meet necessary regulatory requirements in preparation for a survey, maintain ongoing continuous readiness or assist a new Swing Bed program build a regulatory compliance framework.
These services include, but are not limited to:
Swing Bed CoP education webinar(s)
Swing Bed Survey Readiness evaluation (on-site/virtual)
Swing Bed Survey Readiness Bootcamp (on-site/virtual)
Swing Bed Billing and Coding Support
Hospital swing bed units have a unique set of billing rules that are different from inpatient billing practices. Stroudwater will facilitate a training course via webinar to explain these differences and the requirements needed for a swing bed unit to receive reimbursement for the services. Key objectives include:
- Identify requirements for swing bed qualifying visits
- Demonstrate specific billing rules required for a swing bed unit as compared to traditional inpatient billing and CAH swing bed billing
- Identify nuances in revenue cycle unique to Government vs. Commercial payors for Swing Bed Patients
- Provide best practices for Prior Authorization and other Revenue Cycle Front End activities
System Swing Bed Strategy
Swing bed programs are an essential service for hospitals and the rural communities that they serve. But we know many rural hospitals affiliated with health systems, and the health system themselves, face challenges related to fully optimizing the swing bed program.
By collaborating with rural hospitals and CAHs, Stroudwater is uniquely positioned to significantly improve these processes with our evidence-based approach for swing bed optimization and growth at both the local and system level.
Our approach centers around:
- Making recommendations that your health system and rural hospital can implement in a timely manner and delivers the value you need
- Keeping the patient, their quality of life and safety at the center of every recommendation
- Providing expert clinical and quality consultants as trusted advisors
Webinar Series
Stroudwater has cumulated a swing bed webinar series designed to equip healthcare professionals with the knowledge and skills necessary to optimize swing bed services. This hands-on series covers key aspects including regulatory compliance, effective care planning, and best practices for program design. Whether you’re new to swing bed programs or looking to enhance your existing practices, this swing bed webinar series offers valuable insights and practical tools to improve patient outcomes and streamline operations.
Swing bed topic covered, include:
Swing Bed Overview
Regulatory Requirements
Program Design
Quality/Clinical Outcomes
Financial Impact
Marketing for Growth
The Swing Bed Gap Analysis Team
