- 92 Hospitals
- 7,043 Total beds
- Developed LTCH-PPS with Lewin Group.
- Worked closely with MedPAC on its LTCH Study and June 2004 Report to Congress.
- Effectively dealt with billing issues during LTCH-PPS transition.
- Drafted and lobbied Grandfathered HIH protection law. Section 4417(a) of the BBA of 1997.
- Protected Grandfathered HIHs from revisions to HIH rules, including protection from 25% rule.
- Stopped QIO denials of rehabilitation cases in LTCHs
- Secured written confirmation that the 25% rule does not apply to Grandfathered HIHs.
- Working with Congress to resolve issues created by the adoption of the so-called 25% rule which imposes a severe payment penalty when patients are admitted to a LTCH from a co-located hospital.
- Working to remove space and operations restrictions placed on certain "grandfathered" HIHs.
- Developing LTCH specific screening criteria for use by QIOs and potentially commercial insurers.
- Revisions to definition of LTCHs and LTCH services, e.g.
- Restriction of LTCH cases to specified “Major Diagnostic Groups.”
- MedPAC recommendations against LTCH specialization in rehabilitation.
- New initiatives for Medicare to pay same amount for patients requiring similar resource use regardless of the provider setting, i.e. LTCH, IRF or SNF.
- Strong research capacities through Lewin Group.
- Good relationships with:
- MedPAC
- Key Congressional Offices
- CMS
- Establishment of LTCH industry-wide data base.
- Extensive multi-site ventilator weaning outcomes study.
- Coder-physician educational seminars.
- NALTH member only coder consulting services.
- Develop and validate admission, continued stay and discharge criteria.
- Comprehensive Member Data Repository
- Provides quarterly benchmarking, comparison and trend reports.
- Includes financial, operations, patient outcome and quality measures
- Focused operations benchmarking studies (case management, nursing, etc)
- Annual Best Practice Awards and Presentations
