Skilled Nursing Facility PPS

Skilled nursing facilities are a vital part of the care continuum focusing on patients requiring nursing and therapy services following a three-day or longer stay in a general acute-care hospital. The Medicare program pays for SNF services through a prospective payment system, with per diem payments set according to a patient's utilization of therapy and nursing services.

Read on for more information and resources on payment and quality issues facing the SNF field. Of particular interest in 2017 is CMS's new SNF payment approach, the resident classification system-1, that the agency plans to, in the future, propose as a replacement for the existing payment system. Below are several resources on this new approach, called RCS-1, including a June 2017 comment letter to CMS and a August 2017 Regulatory Advisory.