For nursing home owners and operators, having frank conversations about residents’ end-of-life intentions, and organizing the associated paperwork proactively, is a potential way to avoid unwanted hospitalizations and the sizable costs that come with it — especially if it’s not in line with the patient’s wishes.
Nursing homes are faced with tough decisions when the end of a resident’s life comes sooner than expected, or if the resident never had conversations about their choices with loved ones. For these reasons, several experts say that the skilled nursing sector cannot afford to put off uncomfortable conversations — and one major provider in the Northwest says that aside from the human benefits, the cost savings could total in the millions.
In 2016, Medicare introduced a new payment structure for end-of-life conversations with numerous codes and detailed instructions, incentivizing operators and clinicians to formalize the process and encourage more of these discussions.
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