Recent Changes To Swing-Bed Regulations: Here’s What You Need To Know

Description

Creating Swing Beds: Key Regulatory, Operational, Billing and Compliance Considerations Under the CMS Blanket Waivers

swing bed regulations have changed twice just in the last 13 months. The most recent set of changes came in the Omnibus Burden Reduction (Conditions of Participation) Final Rule CMS-3346-F. The good news is, the changes, are seen as a net positive for hospitals and critical-access hospitals (CAHs) that provide swing-bed services.

This rule should save “providers an estimated 4.4 million hours of time previously spent on paperwork with an overall total projected savings to providers of $800 million annually,” according to a Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services fact sheet.

Critical Access Hospital (CAH) swing-bed care is regulated by both the CAH requirements and the swing-bed requirements at 42 CFR Part 485.  The actual swing-bed survey requirements are referenced in the Medicare Nursing Homes requirements at 42 CFR Part 483. Section 18883 of the Act authorizes payment under Medicare for post-hospital SNF services provided by any CAH that meets certain requirements.

This webinar focuses on the swing bed changes implemented by CMS in which CMS completely revised all the swing bed regulations and tag numbers. Swing bed interpretive guidelines and survey procedures are now under Appendix PP and 1135 waivers available to critical access hospitals with swing beds will be discussed.

During the webinar, Darlene Evans, MSN, RN, CPHQ, will outline these changes in more detail and provide a quick review of previous changes that can help your facility maximize its swing-bed program

Learning Objectives:

• Discuss that CMS made some recent changes to the protocol process 
• Billing and Reimbursement for Swing Beds
  
• Recall that CMS has rewritten the entire section on swing beds
• Describe what is required by CMS to be in the resident assessment which is done to do the care plan
• Recall the CMS requirements on patient activities of swing bed patients
• Who does the swing bed waiver apply to?
• How do hospitals request approval for swing beds?
• How can rural or urban hospitals qualify for the waiver?

Session Highlights:

• Changes to the CAH Manual and Introduction to CAH CoPs
• Special Requirements for CAH Providers of Long-Term Care Services (Swing beds)
• New Swing bed regulations 
• Interpretive guidelines and survey procedure under Appendix PP
• Eligibility
• Payment
• Healthcare literacy
• SNF Services
• Resident Rights
• Exercise of Rights
• Notice of Rights and Services
• Free Choice
• Privacy and Confidentiality
• Work
• Mail
• Access and Visitation Rights
• Personal Property
• Married Couples
• Admission, Transfer and Discharge Rights
• Transfer and Discharge
• Payment of care
• Content of notice
• Resident Behavior and Facility Practices
• Restraints, Abuse 
• Staff Treatment of Residents
• Hiring of employees
• Patient Activities 
• Social Services
• Dental requirements change
• Resident Assessment
• Comprehensive Care Plans
• PASARR or RAI
• Discharge Summary
• Nutrition
• Provision of Services
• COVID-19 reporting requirements
• Websites for CAH
• CAH resources

Who Should Attend?

• Anyone who is responsible for taking care of swing bed patients in a CAH or for implementing the CMS swing bed requirements. This includes the following: 
• CEOs, COOs and CFOs, 
• Nurse Executives, Nurse Managers, Nurses, Nurse educators, Nursing Supervisors,
• Accreditation and Regulation director, 
• Pharmacists, 
• Quality managers, 
• Risk managers, 
• Healthcare attorneys, 
• Patient safety officer, 
• Director of Rehab (OT, PT, speech pathology, and audiology), 
• Dietician, 
• Infection preventionist, and 
• Compliance officers