Swing Bed is a Great Option for Many Patients
SLV Health
What does the term “swing bed” mean? Swing bed refers to the practice of “swinging” patients from one level of care – acute care that requires hospitalization – to the next level – continued skilled nursing and rehabilitation services as the patient continues their recovery. Swing Bed is generally a Medicare Benefit with the following specific conditions.
- Swing Bed care must be related to an acute hospital stay.
- Patient must need skilled nursing or skilled rehabilitative services on a daily basis, and must be complex enough that services must be performed by or under the supervision of professional or technical personnel.
- Patient must have had a three day qualifying stay in an acute care setting in the past 30 days.
Some private insurances cover the Swing Bed Program if the patient does not have Medicare. Patients have options. They can request where they would like to receive their swing bed care. Tandra Dunn, RN, Director of Nursing at CCH, explains the reason why a patient might choose their facility for swing bed. “The goal is to return the patient home at their maximum level of function and we can provide specialized wound care, IV therapy, 24 hour registered nurse on staff, registered dietician, onsite rehab therapy services and a very high nurse to patient ratio.”
