Swing Bed Care Supports Patient Recovery, Financial Stability at WNH

Sep 10, 2024

At August’s board of trustees meeting, William Newton Hospital reported progress in its financial position. As of July 31, the year-to-date net income from patient services is $183,251. Several factors have contributed to this improvement over the losses experienced in 2022 and 2023, but one recent success is growth in the hospital’s swing bed program.

About Swing Bed Care

Swing bed is a term coined by Medicare for an extended hospital stay focused on recovery and rehabilitation. It is used to designate skilled nursing care following an inpatient hospital stay. The hospital can “swing” beds and provide either acute hospital care or skilled nursing care as needed.

“Swing bed care helps bridge the gap from acute hospitalization to home,” describes William Newton Hospital Chief Nursing Officer Laura Frazier, BSN, RN. “It decreases readmissions and provides resources so patients can be successful in a home setting.”

According to Frazier, swing bed care gives patients access to a network of medical professionals not typically found in a traditional nursing home. In addition to providers and nurses available 24/7, day-to-day care may include rehabilitation services such as physical, occupational, and speech therapy. Wound healing, medical nutrition therapy and counseling, respiratory therapy, laboratory, pharmacy, intravenous therapy, medication management, patient and family education, and other services are provided when needed.

“Between WNH’s hospitalist program and the emergency department, there is always a provider on site. This is a great comfort to patients and families,” Frazier emphasizes. “By choosing to recover close to home, patients are also closer to family and friends. Amenities such as Kitchen on Fifth, WNH Auxiliary snack bar/gift shop, and volunteer services, make it easy for loved ones to visit.”

How to Qualify for Swing Bed Care

A patient’s primary care physician determines the type of care and length of stay based on the severity of the illness. If the patient has recovered from the acute phase of an illness, accident, or surgery, but isn’t able to go home yet, the physician can recommend swing bed care.

Some types of patients who may benefit from swing bed care include those:

Recovering from joint replacement or other types of surgery
Recovering from a stroke, cardiac or respiratory illness, or other medical condition
Require management of complex wounds that can’t be treated in an outpatient setting
Require assistance to learn how to manage medications

“Often patients transition to swing bed care directly from our own med/surg unit,” explains Frazier. “But we also accept patients meeting the criteria from any hospital. For example, a patient who has undergone a procedure in a bigger city may prefer to recover back in their community.”

The length of this extended stay is flexible based on the patient's progress and is also determined by insurance coverage.

Swing Bed Care Adds Financial Stability for the Hospital

According to William Newton Hospital Chief Executive Officer Brian Barta, CPA, swing bed programs are common among critical access hospitals. They help create a more consistent patient census, as Original Medicare pays 101% for one to 20 days.

Barta says the average length of stay for swing bed patients is about twice as long as general inpatients.

“The stability created in our patient census by swing bed helps provide more consistent hours to our staff as well as a steady source for reimbursement.”

Growing its swing bed program was identified as one of the top strategic priorities for William Newton Hospital this year, and hospital teams have stepped up to the challenge. One of the key metrics hospitals measure is the number of days patients are in their care. As of July 31, the year-to-date swing bed days were 541. This is greater than the number of swing bed days in 2023 and 2022 combined, at 243 and 185 respectively.

Frazier praised the teamwork among hospital departments and cited coordination with other facilities as another driver of this improvement.

“We expanded our scope to include more skilled nursing needs, built our knowledge to better recognize who is appropriate for swing bed care, and networked with area healthcare providers.”

Ashley Kennedy, RN, who has worked in the med/surg unit at William Newton Hospital since 2018, transitioned to a utilization review role in January 2024. This spring, she began integrating case management into her duties, and one of the tasks Kennedy took on was swing bed growth.

“All of the departments who provide care or services to swing bed patients truly made it a priority,” says Kennedy. “Everyone at WNH was open to the challenge!”

In July, Janci Vogele, RN, also came on board in case management. Vogele brings over a decade of experience in a hospital setting, with a background as a case manager working in Wichita with the Medicaid population.

“We are grateful for Ashley’s leadership in this effort and excited for Janci to join our team with her extensive knowledge and understanding of resources,” expresses Frazier.

With these changes, Frazier is hopeful William Newton Hospital will continue to benefit from the financial stability the swing bed program can provide. As a nurse, she is also eager to help patients who may qualify for this type of care.

“Swing bed care has been shown to reduce patient anxiety and provide better overall patient outcomes,” explains Frazier. “As compared to a rehab facility, our program has lower staff-to-patient ratios, so patients feel like they know their nurses and therapists and have less disruption to their care.”

If faced with an inpatient stay, William Newton Hospital recommends patients talk to their primary care provider about the option for extended care through hospital swing bed programs.

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Rebecca, a certified physical therapy assistant, works with a patient while in swing bed care.