Finally!

Angie SzumlinskiNews

We have all heard about profit over care in post-acute care, a common phrase used by non-providers, which makes it even more difficult to manage community expectations. Sure, most post-acute care facilities are sustainable financially from one year to the next, but does that make them poor providers? No. What a recent study in JAMDA identified was that it isn’t the profit margin but rather the availability of resources that lead to negative outcomes. The study identified that facilities with lower profit margins have higher odds of getting citations for infection prevention and control AND are at higher risk of persistent citations. Well, hello! Finally, someone is examining where the rubber meets the road and not painting post-acute care providers as greedy and only in the business for the money!

I challenge anyone to show me an organization (even a not-for-profit) where they don’t have a balance sheet and budget to work with. Where they don’t use spend-down sheets, budget reviews, shop for better pricing on supplies, etc. Everyone does or we wouldn’t be sustainable, right? Let’s keep it simple, provide quality care, ask for assistance if you are unable to provide needed supplies, focus on resident outcomes, review your quality measure report through QAPI and identify areas for improvement.

We should all pause and be sure we are doing the right things for the right reasons, treat our residents the way we would want to be treated and the financial balance will be there. Stay well, stay informed, and stay tuned!