Question: Occasionally, the acute care hospitals in our system treat homeless and uninsured patients who require post-discharge treatment but cannot find community resources willing to serve them. The hospitals have worked out an agreement with a post-acute recuperative care organization that if an unhoused or uninsured patient meets clinical criteria for post-acute care services and meets our financial assistance criteria, the post-acute organization will accept the patient, and the hospital will pay for the care (at cost). Can this be reported as community benefit?
Recommendation:We recommend the payments to the recuperative care organization made on behalf of patients who qualified based on medical and financial criteria be reported in A3. Health Care Support Services since it increases access to services for the patient. We also recommend that you maintain documentation which supports medical and financial criteria.
(Updated November 2024)