4. Community Leaders in Voorhees are very supportive of a rehabilitation hospital and have
assured us they will lend a hand in any way necessary to bring the hospital to the
community. Physicians have expressed to us the need for rehabilitation services and are
looking forward to a hospital for their patients.
While an adult physical rehabilitation hospital treats the needs of all adult patients, the
geriatric population makes up about 95% of the patients treated in a rehab hospital. This
is easy to understand when we realize that rehabilitation diagnoses are often associated
with illnesses and incidents that occur, as we get older. For instance strokes,
amputations, fractures of femurs, poly arthritis and traumatic brain injuries are just a few
of the diagnostic categories that are treated in a rehabilitation hospital.
The professionals working in the hospital include physicians, physical therapists,
occupational therapists, speech pathologists, social services, psychologists, and
recreational therapists. These groups of professionals work together as a multidisciplinary
team to treat the patient. Their goal is to provide integrated care to disabled individuals
in order to assist these individuals in reaching the highest functional level of
independence and return the patient to a quality life.
It is very important to the community to establish a physical rehabilitation hospital in
Voorhees. The hospital will also provide an outpatient department to offer a continuum of
care for the patient after they have been discharged from the hospital. This is very
important to total patient care and maintenance.
A Wellness Program for all seniors within the community has been planned. This
program will assist geriatrics in maintaining a healthy and independent lifestyle.
The hospital is also planning to offer a Traumatic Brain Injury Unit. This unit will
specialize in treating the patient that has sustained a closed head injury. We are very
excited about this facility and expect that the hospital will become a regional hub for the
treatment of these injuries.
We anticipate hiring around 150 employees to support hospital services. Many of these
employees are medical professionals and will certainly add to the economy. Community
members that we have been in contact with are looking forward to not only the hospital
providing a much-needed service but also creating additional jobs in the area.
We have an obligation to ensure that health care services like rehabilitation are available
to all who need these specialized services but specially our seniors in Voorhees and
surrounding areas. This hospital will provide these services.
However, given the current economic situation as well as the approval of health care
reform as of Dec 2009. The New Inpatient Rehab hospital development will presents us
with an opportunity to integrate the full range of acute, post-acute, and senior care across
a major market. This innovative approach is in alignment with the intent of the new
Obama healthcare reform initiatives to improve the quality and efficiency of care at all
types of inpatient facilities
5. Anuschka Healthcare Group
Barney Rehabilitation Hospital has partner with Anuschka Group for the
management and operational services for the hospital. Established in 1998,
Anuschka Group, Inc. has been a leading provider of physical rehabilitation
program management services in hospitals, skilled nursing facilities and
other long-term care facilities throughout the United States. We also own
and operate a total of 50 rehabilitation and long-term acute care hospitals.
Our Skilled Nursing Rehabilitation Services division serves skilled nursing
and other long-term care facilities, and outpatient care facilities by providing
and managing therapy services for both the short-stay patient and long-term
care resident.
The division also provides consulting and billing services for long-term care
providers as well as therapy/nurse staffing solutions for the state of Texas
and Louisiana through Amed Medical Staffing Services.
Our Hospital Rehabilitation Services division manages hospital-based
inpatient rehabilitation facilities (IRFs), medical/surgical therapies and
outpatient therapy programs. Within our Hospital division, we own and
operate freestanding IRFs and long-term acute care hospitals through joint
venture partnerships with market leading acute care providers.
Anuschka Healthcare Group, help hospitals identify strategies to drive
efficiencies, increase revenue and achieve clinical excellence across their
post-acute continuum of care, from med/surg therapies and transitional care
to IRF and outpatient rehabilitation services. We have a demonstrated ability
to help hospitals adapt and thrive in an ever-changing reimbursement
environment.
18. Medicare to adjust payments to Rehab
facilities
August 01, 2008 | Bernie Monegain, Contributing Editor
WASHINGTON â The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services set new nursing
home payment rates for 2009 and issued a final rule to on payment for services
for people who need the intensive rehabilitation services provided by Inpatient
Rehabilitation Facilities, or IRFs.
The final rule on rehabilitation payments will appear in the August 8 Federal
Register and will be effective for fiscal year 2009, beginning Oct. 1, 2008.
Rehabilitation patients are recovering from serious illnesses or injuries, such as
stroke, spinal cord injuries, severe burns and amputations. There are currently
more than 1,200 facilities that are paid as IRFs.
Medicare payment rates to nursing homes will increase by $780 million next
year, CMS officials announced. The change is the result of a 3.4 percent
increase in the annual market basket calculation of the cost of goods and
services included in a skilled nursing facility stay.
CMS projects that Medicare payments to inpatient rehabilitation facilities under
the final rule will be approximately $5.6 billion in fiscal year 2009.
19. "The payment rates and policies adopted in this final rule will make it possible for
beneficiaries who are severely impaired by illness or injury, but who are able to
participate in an intensive program of rehabilitation, to obtain high quality care in
an inpatient setting," said CMS Acting Administrator Kerry Weems.
Since 2002, Medicare has paid rehabilitation hospitals and rehabilitation units in
acute care hospitals for inpatient stays under the IRF prospective payment
system. Under this system, patients are classified into case-mix groups, taking
into account the patient's physical and cognitive status.
Medicare establishes a weight for each case-mix group based on the average
resources required for treating a patient in that group. Medicare makes a single
payment to the facility based on a base rate, which is updated annually for
inflation. The base rate is further adjusted to account for specific characteristics
and the location of the facility.
The payment rates set by the IRF for rehabilitation therapy services are higher
than would be paid for services in other settings, such as hospital outpatient
departments, skilled nursing facilities or in the home health setting, because
these patients have more severe and more complex medical conditions that need
more intensive and coordinated rehabilitation services.
The final rule sets the inflation update for the standard federal rate at zero
percent for 2009.
"The rule CMS is adopting today will help to ensure that people with Medicare
have access to rehabilitation services that are appropriate to their medical
conditions, and that will help them reach their maximum level of recovery as
quickly as possible," said Weems.