UCGH Swing Bed Services
As you recover from your recent hospitalization, you may be moved from acute care services to Swing Bed services. Swing Bed offers access to all the care you may need, in a less intensive environment.
Our friendly staff is here to answer any questions about Swing Bed services at Union County General Hospital you may have.
What are Swing Bed Services?
The Social Security Act permits certain small, rural hospitals to enter into a swing bed agreement, under which the hospital can use its beds, as needed, to provide either acute or skilled nursing facility care.
As defined in the regulations, a swing bed hospital is a hospital or critical access hospital participating in Medicare that has the approval of the Center for Medicare/Medicaid Services (CMS) to provide post-hospital skilled nursing facility care and meets certain requirements.
Medicare Part A covers post-hospital extended care services furnished in a swing bed hospital.
Under the Balanced Budget Act of 1997, swing bed facilities are incorporated into the skilled nursing facility's prospective payment system by the end of a statutory transition period. This applies to short term hospitals, long term hospitals, and rehabilitation hospitals certified as swing bed hospitals.
Critical Access Hospitals with swing beds are exempt from the the skilled nursing facility prospective payment system under more recent legislation.
Qualifications for Skilled Nursing Facility/Swing Bed Services
To qualify for Skilled Nursing Facility-level services, a patient is required to receive acute care as a hospital inpatient for a medically necessary stay of at least 3 consecutive calendar days.
Union County General Hospital staff will ensure the patient qualifies prior to providing services.
Effective with cost reporting periods beginning on or after July 1, 2002, swing bed hospitals will no longer be paid based on the current cost-related method, but rather on the basis of the skilled nursing facility's prospective payment system.
The skilled nursing facility's prospective payment system covers all costs related to covered services furnished to beneficiaries under Medicare Part A. Like the prospective payment system for inpatient hospital services, the skilled nursing facility's prospective payment system excludes certain specified services, which are separately billable to Medicare Part B.
The prospective payment system relies on information from a resident assessment instrument to classify residents into one of 44 categories for payment purposes.
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Located in Clayton, New Mexico, Union County General Hospital (UCGH) also proudly serves the communities of Texline and Dalhart, Texas, Boise City, Oklahoma, Des Moines, Raton, and Amistad, NM, and many smaller communities in the region.