Why look at in-house therapy programs?
Several drivers influence healthcare operators to consider moving to an in-house therapy program. First, skilled nursing facilities are feeling census and financial pressure. Additionally, therapy is not the revenue driver it once was.
An in-house therapy program can be appealing to operators for several reasons. This type of program has the potential to offer a lower cost, a committed, dedicated staff, and possibly improved managerial control.
The risks of in-house therapy programs
While many features of going in-house with therapy are appealing, healthcare operators must assess their current programming and decide if a change meets their needs. This is particularly important since there are many risks that must be addressed with in-house therapy programs.
- The director of rehab has all the resources they need to run a high-performing, evidence-based program that withstands scrutiny, makes customers and staff happy, and integrates with the nursing staff.
- Hiring the right staff with the right background and quickly bringing them up to speed with the complex and nuanced regulatory and reimbursement environment.
- Hiring the right mix of staff–therapists, assistants, techs–while staying within the state practice regulations.
- Over-or-under delivery of care: being able to substantiate the rehab care plan with evidence.
- Going solo on denials and denials management.
- Staffing misses: availability of well-trained on-call staff.
- Care delivery cost overruns, especially with insurance cases.
- The perception that in-house programs are free: loading up therapy staff with “other duties as assigned” such as wheelchair maintenance, printing records, excessive meetings, and such.
- Performance management challenges with a highly educated workforce
- Cost-creep: in-house programs tend to become more expensive over time due to rising wages and potential productivity/accountability issues.
- Giving up on the “value-add” with a contract partner–census development, insights enabled by technology, operations, clinical consulting, training, and regulatory interpretation.
What about therapy management?
There are other therapy options besides in-house therapy that health care operators should consider. For example, Infinity Rehab offers a no-obligation therapy program check-up. It’s advantageous for healthcare providers to determine which solution is best for their circumstances.
Therapy Management by Infinity Rehab gives healthcare providers options. Infinity Rehab’s broad and successful experience helps providers create a high-performance department in a fully capitated environment, whether considering a contract therapy solution, going in-house, or possibly a hybrid therapy model. In addition, the service line touts a 30-day transition with a therapy management program customized to the needs of the customer’s patients, staff, and facility circumstances.
The service also provides additional advantages like industry-leading therapist recruiting and a flat fee cost structure. In addition, Therapy Management by Infinity Rehab brings strong, proven systems to strengthen and solidify therapy operations and clinical service delivery.
Contact us now and schedule a time to explore your options.
