GenInv – Health and Wellness

RUG-IV changes the paying ground for rehab; however you can now plan to keep your resident care on solid footing and put your SNF on the raod to success. .

1. Think through scenarios where concurrent therapy still makes sense

SNFs will only get credit, RUG wise, for half of the concurrent therapy minutes recorded on the MDS 3.0. The MDS 3.0 RAI manual defines concurrent therapy under Part A as treating two patients at the same time, irrespective of payer source, who are not performi

ng the same or similar activities. Both of the patients ‘must be in line-of-sight of the treating therapist or assistant for Medicare Part A.

However, even with the payment change, concurrent therapy will have its place under RUG-IV.

2. Enjoy the benefits of group therapy

According to a suvey, Aegis Therapies found that its clinicians select group therapy for its competitive and motivational aspects. However the clinicians also chose some patients whom you would not normally consider f

or group – that’s the people who did not really see any hope for themselves.

3. Watch out for the road ahead

SNFs may end up providing additional group therapy under RUG-IV, in part, for definitional reasons. This is because therapists may realize that what they had been doing as concurrent therapy in actuality meets the definition for group therapy.

4. Hone treatment plans with home visits

Under RUG-IV, therapists could use home visits more often. Doing this helps ensure the treat

ment plan is on the mark and addressing all of the patient’s barriers to safe independence. In his views, that approach helps maximize use of individual therapy minutes to aid a patient reach a goal of returning home or to the community.

For more on this, sign up for an audio conference. Even if you miss out on a scheduled rehab conference, you can get hold of rehab: CDs and transcripts to run you through the entire event.