Harmony Healthcare International Pushes Long Term Care Beyond the Average Length of Stay
Topsfield, MA (PRWEB) December 03, 2014 -- Harmony Healthcare International, the leader in long term care reimbursement and compliance consulting as well as training and education programs, launches today a revolutionary approach to collecting and analyzing data pertinent to patient length of stay in healthcare facilities.
The length of stay (LOS) emerges as a central factor in healthcare economics. In order to benchmark the length of stay with one number, the current trend is to use the average length of stay (ALOS). Jim Smerczynski, Analytics and Statistics Consultant at Harmony Healthcare International, has developed a more accurate representation of length of stay. His methodology, called the Clinically Appropriate Stay (CAS) represents the central value based on the median that eliminates outliers and provides a truer calculation.
“By looking at the length of stay data for 9552 skilled nursing facility Medicare patients across New England and New York State between 2012 and 2014, we were able to move away from the standard arithmetic mean and apply a median calculation. This helped us develop the Clinically Appropriate Stay (CAS) which we are promoting as a more accurate point of reference for skilled nursing Medicare patients,” said Smerczynski.
The new point of reference is optimally more accurate than the current average length of stay calculations. For instance, in Smerczynski’s initial calculations the data set in the median CAS was 19.1 days and the ALOS is 24.4 days, a large difference. When the cumulative distribution function (CDF) is applied a more complete description of length of stay emerges allowing for better visibility to operational and care impacts.
“By promoting the median approach, Harmony Healthcare International is encouraging skilled nursing facilities to take a step towards the most accurate representation of a skewed number set. This is truly an industry breakthrough, because it provides SNF’s with the 50% point of the numbers and the true central value,” added Smerczynski. “As an industry we should convince CMS to move towards this point of reference as well.”
“Harmony Healthcare International’s Clinically Appropriate Stay (CAS) calculation gives skilled nursing facility Administrators a clearer view and understanding of the operational and care demands placed on the facility at a given time. The CAS is an invaluable planning tool with timely economic impact,” said Kris Mastrangelo, President and CEO of Harmony Healthcare International. “We believe this new tool will change how length of stay is evaluated and measured in the post-acute care industry.”
For more information on Harmony Healthcare International’s Clinically Appropriate Stay (CAS) see: http://www.harmony-healthcare.com/blog/beyond-the-average-length-of-stay.
About Harmony Healthcare International
Harmony Healthcare International was founded in 2001. With headquarters in Topsfield, MA, Harmony Healthcare International services clients in the skilled nursing, acute care and assisted living markets with operational and compliance consulting, training and educational programs and talent management services. With 25 headquarters staff and 25 accomplished clinicians who serve as consultants to For-Profit, Not-For-Profit, Standalone and Multi-Facility Chains across the country, Harmony Healthcare International has been ranked among the top 5,000 fastest growing private companies in the U.S. for 3 consecutive years by Inc. Magazine. Harmony Healthcare International, “We care about care.”
Visit us at: http://www.harmony-healthcare.com.
Media Contact
Jon A. Di Gesu
Vice President of Marketing
jdigesu(at)harmony-healthcare(dot)com
@JonDiGesu
(O) 978.887.8919
(C) 603.770.5731
Jon Di Gesu, Harmony Healthcare International, http://www.harmony-healthcare.com, +1 6037705731, [email protected]
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