Skilled Care

What is Skilled Care/Swing Bed?

Skilled Care refers to a patient’s need for care or treatment that can only be performed by licensed nurses. This type of care is typically offered in hospitals, assisted living communities, nursing homes and other certified locations.

Ellett Memorial Hospital offers skilled care in the form of our Swing Bed Program. A patient may qualify for Swing Bed at Ellett Memorial Hospital if he/she has had a 3 night stay (Acute Care) at a hospital (at our hospital or other hospital) and while the patient no longer needs acute care, the doctor does not feel that they're ready to go home yet.  

The “Swing Bed” is a concept developed by Medicare in the 1970’s to help with two problems: lack of nursing home beds in rural areas and underutilized hospital beds. These two issues have resolved themselves over time, partly due to the conversion of most rural hospitals to Critical Access Hospitals (like Ellett Memorial Hospital).  The term “Swing Bed” is dubbed from the changes in the way Medicare reimburses for the care provided to the patient. 

Skilled Care is not long-term care:

Many people mistake Skilled Care as long-term care. Skilled Care is not long-term care, but it is instead a step in between a patient’s time at the hospital as an Acute Care patient and returning home. The goal of Skilled Care is for the patient to rehabilitate so that he/she can gain back his/her health and strength to return to their home. Long-term care on the other-hand, is a long-term placement at a nursing home. 

Examples of patients who might qualify for Skilled Care include:

• Patients requiring intravenous therapy (antibiotics or other IV medications).
• Patients recovering from hip or knee surgery.
• Patients requiring wound care.
• Patients recovering from a stroke.
• Patients requiring rehabilitation services such as physical therapy, occupational therapy, speech therapy, and respiratory therapy.

What are patients’ options?

Once a patient's doctor has decided that he/she qualifies for and is in need of Skilled Care, the patient has the option to be placed at either a skilled nursing home facility or at a hospital that offers skilled care.  If the patient chooses to come to Ellett, we will assess and ensure our staff and facility can meet the needs of the patient.  We will also check on insurance/Medicare approval for the Swing Bed stay.  

Medicare Part A pays for this service at 100% for days 1-20 - as long as the patient continues to make progress. A co-payment of $161.00 per day will be due starting on the 21^st day and continue through day 100 of the Swing Bed stay. After 100 continuous days in the Swing Bed program Medicare no longer provides coverage and charges then become the full responsibility of the patient. The benefit period will start over if the patient has been out of the hospital for 60 consecutive days. Most secondary insurance will cover the co-insurance amount. Swing Bed patients are encouraged to verify secondary coverage if a hospital stay is longer than 20 days. Patients may be discharged before 20 days if skilled criteria end.

Why choose Ellett Memorial Hospital for Skilled Care?

There are several benefits to choosing us:

• Registered Nurses are staffed 24/7.
• Diagnostic Imaging and Laboratory services are staffed 24/7.
• Respiratory Therapy services are staffed seven days a week. 
• Physical Therapy / Occupational Therapy/ Speech Therapy are offered depending on the needs of the patient.
• Wound Care available. 
• We have experienced and compassionate staff who care about their patients.
• We offer a quiet, relaxing environment and a small-town atmosphere. 
• For our local patients, they can receive their care close to home and their loved ones have less of a distance to travel for visits. 

Do patients get to choose where they go?

Patients always have a right to choose where they receive their care.

Patients are not limited to receiving their Skilled Care at a nursing home.  Patient's can request that they come Ellett Memorial Hospital.  Once a patient requests Ellett Memorial as place of choice for skilled care, their current hospital staff would then send a swingbed referral  to Ellett. Once we receive the referral we will assess and ensure whether or not we are able to meet the patient's medical needs. If we are able to, we will work with the other hospital’s discharge planners to get everything set up for the patient’s stay here. 

Call to find out more:

If you are interested in Ellett Memorial’s Swing Bed Program have your discharge planner or social worker contact Julie Grubb at 660-476-2111. Julie will make a request from the facility that you will be transferring from and will coordinate with the receiving physician and nursing supervisor to determine if Ellett Memorial Hospital can provide the services needed to prepare you for your discharge.

All Swing Bed patients are encouraged to participate in their plan of care. Family members involved in the patient care are also encouraged to attend weekly Swing Bed meetings with the patient, physician, and nurse to discuss the patient’s stay.