CMS recently released data highlighting facility specific performance information for the “Skilled Nursing Value-Based Purchasing Program” at Central Island Healthcare (CIH) https://www.centralislandhealthcae.com located in Plainview New York.
The report found that CIH was one of only three percent of Skilled Nursing Facilities (SNF) to receive the maximum bonus for improved 30 day readmission rates back to hospitals. This is important since nearly 15,000 SNFs included in the program report only 27 percent received any bonus while 73 percent were penalized.
CIH is the very first SNF in the country to provide the services of Call9 to provide “Urgent Care Telemedicine”. Call9 https://call9.com provides emergency medicine without brick and mortar limitations and enables connecting embedded emergency trained first responders who work on site in the facility 24/7. The system uses telemedicine to treat residents to hopefully not send them to the emergency department for conditions that Call9 can treat in place.
According to Timothy C. Peck, MD, Call9’s Cofounder and CEO, “As Medicare continues to search for decreased costs and improved care, the shift to value will only grow. The ability for nursing homes to care for patients in place, both by lowering 30 day readmits and providing less discontinuity of care, becomes even more important.”