Swing Bed Program

After receiving care in a hospital for an illness, stroke, injury or surgery, you may be on the road to full recovery but still need some additional care before returning home. Skilled nursing is a level of hospitalization care for patients who require additional services beyond their hospital stay. Skilled nursing services (swing wed is the term if you are on Medicare or have a Medicare Advantage plan) are extremely beneficial when a patient is ready to leave the acute care level of a hospital stay but is not yet well enough to return home.

A swing bed is the term Medicare uses to describe a hospital room that can switch from acute care to skilled care. The actual bed does not change; what changes is the level of care provided to the patient in that room. If you are not on Medicare or a Medicare Advantage plan, you receive the same care, it is just called a skilled nursing stay.

At Adams Memorial Hospital, our staff of experienced health care professionals care for skilled nursing patients on the Acute Care floor of the hospital. If you are a patient coming from another facility, a discharge planner from that facility will assist in transferring you to Adams for skilled nursing services. In most cases, if you are already a patient at Adams and need additional care before you can safely go home, you can transition to skilled care often without changing your room.

As a skilled nursing patient at Adams, you will receive our high quality of care in a private room, with a better staff-to-patient ratio than larger hospitals or nursing homes.

A swing bed length of stay depends on a patient’s needs and recovery progress. Medicare will cover up to 20 days at 100% providing the patient has a need for skilled care. Please note: swing bed care requires the use of the Medicare patient’s skilled nursing facility benefit. Swing bed is not intended for permanent long-term care placement; it is for continued care until the patient returns home or transfers to a long-term care facility.

Patients are discharged from swing bed services when:

• They have achieved the maximum benefit of skilled nursing or rehabilitation, as determined by the physician and your insurance company.
• The care being provided has become custodial in nature.
• The patient’s continuing care requires placement in a long-term care facility, and there is a change in the patient’s needs or level of care.

• Have Medicare Part A benefits or skilled nursing coverage on your Medicare Advantage or commercial insurance plan.
  • Medicare requires three consecutive days of inpatient care in an acute care hospital within the past 30 days. Observation stays in a hospital do not meet this requirement. Medicare Advantage and commercial insurance plans may (and often do) have different rules.
• Receive physician referral for necessary skilled nursing services.

Skilled nursing care is available on a private-pay basis if you don’t have insurance coverage or your swing bed/skilled nursing benefits have been exhausted. All private-pay charges will be paid on a seven-day basis to prevent any misunderstanding of long-term accumulated charges.

• Rehabilitation services following strokes and joint replacements (may include physical, occupational and/or speech therapy)
• Frequent laboratory monitoring
• Instructions in ostomy or stoma care
• Tube feedings and nutritional stabilization
• Care of decubitus ulcers
• Qualifying bowel and bladder care
• Respiratory therapy services
• IV medications or medications requiring monitoring by professional staff
• Wound management/sterile dressing changes
• Terminal care for patients needing pain control or skilled supportive care

Our physical, occupational and speech therapy programs help return patients back to independence as quickly and safely as possible. Our therapists are hospital therapists, not a contract therapy company that you would experience in most long-term care facilities. The same therapists who cared for you during your inpatient stay at Adams Memorial Hospital will be caring for you during your skilled nursing stay.

Call our care navigator today for more information!
Phone:  260-223-7196
Fax:  844-671-9046
Email:  stephany.rose@adamshealthnetwork.org
1100 Mercer Avenue
Decatur, IN 46733