Florida Hospital Association roundtable seeks to improve post-acute care transitions

The Florida Hospital Association recently hosted a roundtable, bringing together representatives from hospitals, hospice providers, and long-term care facilities to discuss potential solutions to improve Floridians’ access to timely post-acute care.

Florida hospitals face significant obstacles in transitioning patients to post-acute

care. As the nation’s second-largest population of individuals over the age of 65, the demand for long-term care services across Florida continues to rise. The Florida Hospital Association works alongside health care industry leaders to address the unique challenges of this population, emphasizing the need for innovative solutions.

Delays in insurance provider authorizations and the lack of standardization across various plans are major roadblocks to timely post-acute care in Florida’s health care delivery system. Mary C. Mayhew, president and CEO of the Florida Hospital Association, emphasized in her statements the importance of delivering patient-centered care, noting that timely post-acute care transitions are pivotal for good patient health outcomes.

“Every individual deserves patient-centered care in the most appropriate setting on their path to healing following a hospital stay. Stroke patients and those who have suffered heart attacks need timely access to rehabilitation services outside of the hospital setting, for example,” said Mayhew. “Post-acute care is a pivotal stage in the continuum of care as every delay prolongs a patient’s journey to recovery, yet the accessibility to this critical care remains a pressing concern across Florida communities.”

The Florida Hospital Association recently conducted a survey that found patients spent 250,000 days stuck in hospital beds when they no longer needed hospital-level care. And that’s only accounting for 37% of all beds across Florida hospitals.

Mayhew added, “Most often, delays are beyond the control of hospitals, post-acute care facilities, and home health services. Our association’s commitment to enhancing post-acute care is a call to action; it’s not merely a conversation. Every delay in care prolongs a patient’s journey to recovery, yet the accessibility to this critical care remains a pressing concern across Florida communities.”

What’s more is that delays in transitioning patients to post-acute care are costly. Keeping patients hospitalized after they are medically ready for discharge can cost hospitals more than $540 million a year. Also, nearly 50% of patients are waiting more than 10 days to be discharged to a skilled nursing facility.

FHA’s senior vice president, Kim Streit, spoke about navigating timely payer authorizations through Medicare Advantage while Monica Calonge, nursing home administrator for Palmetto Subacute Care Center and Neil Sutton, vice president of operations for NuVision Management — both members of the Florida Health Care Association — discussed the importance of timely payer authorizations and solutions to simplify transitions to post-acute care.

“It’s incredibly important that hospitals, long-term nursing facilities and other providers that are part of continuum care for Floridians continually collaborate to implement effective solutions that break down barriers to care,” said Sutton. “Through these collaborations and partnering closely with insurance providers to expedite authorizations for post-acute care upon hospital discharge, we can make great strides toward improving accessibility to post-acute care.”

According to the Florida Hospital Association, coordinated care, reducing hospital readmission, caregiver availability, and social determinants of health are other aspects of post-acute care that hospitals, long-term care facilities and community-based organizations are addressing to improve the health and well-being of residents across all Florida communities.

Guest speakers at the roundtable provided insight into the challenges their organizations are experiencing and the importance of delivering the right care at the right time in the right setting. Samantha Nagy, vice president of Sub-Acute Services at Mount Sinai Medical Center, detailed the medical center’s continuum of care strategies and the success of their Program of All-Inclusive Care for the Elderly (PACE). Additionally, Stephanie Becena, field administrator at Memorial Home Health, shared the value of home health and the barriers their organization faces in delivering this specialized care.

The Florida Hospital Association is committed to making a concerted effort to continue collaborating alongside state leaders, agencies, statewide organizations and individual care providers to ensure that Floridians have accessible, high-quality care close to home.