LeadingAge 2023 wrap-up: Challenges and solutions for post-acute care

As we return from LeadingAge 2023, it’s clear that post-acute care organizations all over the U.S. continue to face staffing challenges. Staff shortages, burnout, and overtime have historically been shown to impact quality of care and overall revenue potential.

Imagine if you could streamline processes to address these staffing challenges, deliver a better patient and resident experience, and strengthen reimbursements – at the same time.

A few key themes emerged from our conversations with post-acute care providers at LeadingAge 2023. In today’s ever-changing healthcare landscape, top concerns continue to include:

• Addressing staffing challenges by reducing employee overtime and burnout
• Improving resident care by reducing unfilled employee shifts
• Getting ahead of ever-changing regulatory requirements
• Capitalizing on untapped revenue potential

What if you could identify coding errors and inconsistent documentation of the MDS upfront, while completing clinical documentation? And what if you could ensure optimal staffing and shift communication that would increase allowed billables, quality metrics, and necessary staffing models?

LeadingAge 2023 wrap-up: Address staffing challenges by reducing employee overtime and burnout

LeadingAge 2023 attendees shared multiple stories of workforce challenges. Staff burnout is still a very real challenge for nurses and specialized medical staff. According to a recent survey of 9,000 nurses, 67% of respondents reported planning to leave their positions within the next three years. Another study found that 44% of nurses attribute their decision to leave to burnout. Interestingly, 57% of surveyed nurses said that they would reconsider leaving (or consider returning) if better staffing processes were put in place.

Inovalon Workforce Management enables skilled nursing facilities (SNFs), home health agencies, and other post-acute care organizations to unburden staff and reduce burnout by:

• Managing all schedules in a single, easy to use application
• Automating license and credential tracking
• Informing data-based scheduling decisions with accessible insights into overtime trends and burnout risk
• Empowering nurses to take an active role in their schedules with text alerts and app-based scheduling

Improve resident care by reducing unfilled employee shifts

With a centralized approach to staff scheduling, providers can not only reduce staff burnout – they may also be able to improve care quality for their residents. With easy access to license tracking, agency resources, and staff schedules in a single application, you can ensure that someone is always there to provide qualified care for your residents.

Having an all-in-one Care Quality Management system in place can dramatically enhance care plans and improve accuracy of resident assessment data by leveraging state and national benchmarking and analysis of the MDS. Not only that, but providers can simplify the process of mitigating risk and enhancing infection prevention with detailed infection data tracking and symptom notifications.

Get ahead of ever-changing regulatory requirements

As we discussed with many nurses and providers at LeadingAge 2023, it’s impossible to predict every upcoming change to the regulatory requirements that could negatively impact your facility. However, one thing is certain: Value-based care initiatives will continue to require providers to not simply report on patient and resident care, but constantly seek to improve it.

This is where Inovalon Care Quality Management software can help. Access to accurate patient and resident data, MDS analysis, and infection surveillance analytics are key to staying ahead of regulatory requirements. When you have access to the right data, showcasing areas where your organization excels and areas for growth, you can proactively continue to improve operations – ensuring that patients and residents receive the best possible care. This will enable you to more easily maintain compliance with current and emerging regulatory measures. It may also improve your standing as a preferred post-acute partner for acute facilities in your area, giving you the competitive edge.

Capitalize on untapped revenue potential

In 2022, a report found that 80% of denials at long-term care facilities occurred due to errors in the intake and admissions process. With this in mind, on average, reworked denials cost providers around $25 per claim. It’s interesting to note that post-acute care providers could be accessing a significant amount of untapped revenue, simply by updating intake and benefits verification processes. Inovalon Revenue Cycle Management solutions like Eligibility Verification and Insurance Discovery can help your organization reduce manual tasks, decrease claims errors and denial rates, and improve reimbursements. You can also use UB Submissions to assist in detecting and resolving unintended billing patterns for timelier claims submissions.

LeadingAge 2023 wrap-up: Improve care quality and enhance revenue with Inovalon

At the end of the day, your priority is your patients and/or residents. Inovalon technology was created with the provider in mind, to help you in your aim to enhance care quality, improve staff retention, create a healthy bottom line, and continue to serve your communities. Our goal is to help you focus on what matters most: providing excellent care.

Schedule a demo today to find out how Inovalon can help you do more for your patients and residents, stay ahead of regulatory changes, and protect your organization’s revenue by avoiding common pitfalls.

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