Early this month, the American Physical Therapy Association (APTA) and American Occupational Therapy Association (AOTA) released Dobson DaVanzo TOPS study findings in a joint statement. The study calls on payers to model their reimbursement based on these results, instead of disincentivizing appropriate therapy use. Get the highlights via the summary infographic or continue reading for more detail.

PT/OT provides functional benefit to most patients:

• Significant rehabilitative value seen across 1.4 million Medicare cases.
• Direct and positive impacts seen with patients in post-acute care (PAC) settings, including improving the functional ability of patients and reducing readmissions to acute care hospitals.
• Patients who receive OT and PT during their initial post-acute episode are more likely to have better outcomes and better quality of life
• Therapy increased meaningful participation in everyday living

PT/OT provides direct and positive value in post-acute care:

• There are positive ramifications for PT/OT reimbursement under the current fee-for-service and any future unified payment system.
  • Improving the functional ability of patients
  • Reducing readmissions to acute care hospitals
• There is positive value in PT/OT provided in PAC settings – rehabilitating and preventing decline of core function in daily living activities.
• Increased therapy intensity is positively correlated with increases in measured functional status in patients following discharge from initial hospitalization.
• Thirty-day readmission rates to acute-care hospitals following a PAC episode decreased after therapy and appear to have varying threshold effects within each setting.

The takeaway is obvious. Therapy improves the quality of patient care and outcomes. The hope is that payers like Medicare will take this into consideration when it comes to reimbursement models. 

For help managing contracted therapy costs, contact us about our Managed Care MASTER software for PAC contract and case management, or join our 4/27 webinar with Mix Solutions – Goodbye PDPM, Hello Levels!

Today, Prime Care Technologies, senior care business intelligence and technology provider, announced two new members in its business development organization. Scott Kozimor now serves as Enterprise Sales Director for the central U.S., and Jason Barrett as Enterprise Sales Director for the West region.

Kozimor brings extensive experience in senior care software, including a history with the top three EHR vendors used by long-term care providers. Barrett has held various leadership roles in business development and customer success working with health care vendors of all sizes. They will be responsible for growing trusted relationships with new clients and expanding solutions and services to current valued customers. Both will report to Jae Sparks, Vice President of Sales.

"I’m very excited to add two highly experienced and qualified people to drive our decision-driven technologies to senior care," said Sparks. "I look forward to working with them to increase revenues while helping senior care providers achieve performance goals with our affordable IT solutions."

Chief Revenue Officer Spencer Thomas added, "The growth of our organization positions us to better educate senior living and skilled nursing facility (SNF) operators on using our software and analytics to sharpen the focus on high-quality care."

About Prime Care Technologies
Since 2003, Prime Care Technologies has provided senior care operators with integrated business intelligence and software solutions, driving proactive decision-making and the highest quality care. Based in Atlanta with 175 employees and 200+ healthcare/IT partnerships, its technology-driven solutions are installed in 6,500+ facilities. With deep multi-vendor interoperability expertise, including the integration of 70+ healthcare applications and 3,500+ EDI payers, Prime Care Technologies offers the leading data warehouse in post-acute care. Learn more at http://www.primecaretech.com.

The one constant in senior care is change, right? A lot is changing right now. If the headlines flew past you, we've got your back. This infographic will bring you up to speed.

You should also know we have tools to help you flexibly adjust to change. Get in touch with us to hear more.

Mix Solutions CEO Susie Mix will join us for this advice-packed webinar on managed care, updating senior care providers on the latest factors impacting your reimbursement and how you can manage to your advantage.

• What are MCOs up to now?
• MCO change is SNF gain – in what world?
• System-tight operations for all reimbursement methods
• Best practices for plugging leaks to financial loss
• Effective managed care contract management – it's imperative! 

After, our Managed Care MASTER expert Melanie Miles will offer a quick demo of how our application can help in these areas. Don't let this expert advice pass you by!

With COVID-19 came the accelerated implementation of telehealth to all kinds of providers, including skilled nursing facilities. Understandably, changing the way you provide care is well...big change, at a time when staffing is stretched. But, what if telehealth could expand your staff. Remote patient monitoring is one example.

Whether or not the time is right for change at your facility, telehealth demands consideration. Having show proven benefits during the pandemic, one thing is clear. It is here to stay.

So, here are the top 5 ways telehealth is benefiting caregivers in an at-a-glance infographic.

If you're not using it, maybe it's time to reconsider. Full details can be found in this cdc.gov article – Healthcare Facilities: Managing Operations During the COVID-19 Pandemic.