Rehab and Death in Skilled Nursing Facilities: Sarguni Singh, Christian Furman, and Lynn Flint

In this week's podcast, we sit down with Drs. Sarguni Singh, Christian Furman, and Lynn Flint, three authors of the recent Journal of the American Geriatrics Society article, "Rehab and Death: Improving End-of-Life Care for Medicare Skilled Nursing Facility Beneficiaries." 

The authors dive into the challenges facing seriously ill older adults discharged to Skilled Nursing Facilities (SNFs), where fragmented care transitions, misaligned Medicare policies, and inadequate access to palliative care often result in burdensome hospitalizations and goal-discordant care. 

The discussion highlights key barriers in Medicare's SNF and hospice benefits, including the inability to access concurrent hospice and SNF care, and explores solutions to improve care. Among the recommendations is leveraging Medicare's Patient Driven Payment Model (PDPM) to reimburse SNFs for providing palliative care, commissioning a Government Accountability Office (GAO) report on SNF utilization at the end of life, and piloting a model that allows time-limited concurrent hospice and rehabilitation care. 

Also, check out these two resources if you want a deeper dive:

• Our past podcast we did, now nearly 6 years ago, on the original NEJM paper, Rehabbed to Death.

• Joan Carpenter's article titled "Forced to Choose: When Medicare Policy Disrupts End-of-Life Care" in the Journal of Aging & Social Policy

👉 This episode of the GeriPal Podcast is sponsored by IU Health's Geriatrics Department, in partnership with Indiana University's School of Medicine, an amazing group, rich in innovative Geriatric Medicine.  They are looking for physician faculty to join them in the inpatient and outpatient settings.  To learn more about job opportunities, please click the following links:

• Physician & Advanced Provider Job Opportunity | Geriatrician opportunity at Eskenazi Hospital
• Physician & Advanced Provider Job Opportunity | Geriatrician opportunity at IU Health Fishers Hospital