Volume 2:B | December 2017

"I was recently introduced to the article "Hospitals fail to give patients high-quality information on skilled nursing facilities" . I feel like it holds relevance to the current Post-acute and Long term care environment.

Although studies have shown that location to the patient's home or hospital seems to play the biggest role in where a patient chooses to go, there is no doubt that consumers of health care want more information about services and quality outcomes than hospitals are willing to reveal."

Dr. Kenneth Scott's review can be found below the article segment.

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Hospitals fail to give patients high-quality information on skilled nursing facilities

by  Matt Kuhrt  | Aug 11, 2017 10:53am

Read Full Article - Fiercehealthcare

".. .Hospitals have incentives to ensure patients seek high-quality post-acute care, and quality data exist for skilled nursing facilities (SNFs). But new research finds those same hospitals typically fail to provide that quality information to patients when the time comes for them to choose a facility.

Only four of the 98 patients at 14 skilled nursing facilities interviewed for the study reported that they received guidance from the discharging hospital regarding the quality of nearby skilled nursing facilities, according to a  study  in Health Affairs.

“They’re pretty much just given a list of the skilled nursing facilities in the city and expected to pick among them on their own without information about where they could even get that information,” the study’s lead author, Denise Tyler, a senior researcher at RTI International in Waltham, Massachusetts,  told  Reuters Health.

" . ...hospital staff members believe any guidance they provide patients beyond a list of nearby facilities could unduly influence their choices, according to the study."

Given that hospitals  face pressure  to reduce readmission rates, one might expect staff members to steer patients toward higher quality facilities. But hospital staff members believe any guidance they provide patients beyond a list of nearby facilities could unduly influence their choices, according to the study. In other words, patients wind up getting less guidance than is readily available to make a decision , all in the name of greater patient choice."