Care & Treatment

  • Swing Bed Services

Swing Bed Services

Medicare has established coverage for “Swing Bed” programs to help meet the needs of rural hospitals and communities. Swing Bed is the term Medicare uses to describe a hospital room that can switch from acute care status to skilled care status. The actual bed/room does not change; what changes is the level of care that the patient in that room receives. The swing bed program provides skilled nursing care and rehabilitation services. This may include, but not limited to, IV therapy as well as physical/occupational and speech therapy.

Swing Bed Services are available at Holzer Medical Center - Jackson to those who qualify.

For Swing Bed program referrals or for more information, contact: 740-395-8452. 

What is the Swing Bed Program?

The Swing Bed Program is a short-stay program designed to serve those individuals who are in a transition phase of illness or recovery and no longer require acute care services.

Holzer Medical Center - Jackson (HMC-J) offers an accredited Swing Bed program, which allows Medicare patients to remain at our facility following discharge for rehabilitation. 

Holzer's Swing Bed program provides:

  • Personalized nursing care
  • Individualized treatment delivered by a team of skilled professionals
  • Quiet setting to help you heal
  • All private rooms

Admission Criteria

In order for Medicare to pay for the Swing Bed Program, specific qualifying medical criteria must be met. Following a hospital stay, an individual must require either skilled nursing or skilled therapy services.

Admission criteria are not necessarily based on the diagnosis but rather on the skilled need(s), which may differ from patient to patient depending on the patient’s:

  • Medical History
  • Co-morbidities
  • Age
  • Physical stamina
  • Pre-morbid condition
  • Discharge plan

The patient must have skilled nursing needs six days per week or physical therapy skilled need five days per week.

What to Expect While In Swing Bed Status

  • Physician on site 24/7
  • 24-hour nursing services
  • Respiratory Therapy
  • Pharmacy Services
  • Nutrition Services
  • Social Services
  • Physical Therapy, Occupational Therapy, and/or Speech Therapy if needed
  • Daily assessment by interdisciplinary team
  • Discharge planning meeting
  • Activities provided as tolerated/needed
  • All private rooms (a family member is permitted to stay in the room with the patient, if desired)

Examples of Skilled Needs

  • Infections requiring IV antibiotics
  • Daily respiratory therapy requiring inhalation medications
  • Unstable nutritional support requiring NG support for enteral feeding
  • Erratic nutritional state in a diabetic requiring frequent insulin or intermittent IV hydration
  • Patients undergoing radiation or chemotherapy and in need of IP program
  • Patients requiring rehabilitation (Physical Therapy, Occupational Therapy, Speech Therapy)
         » ADL Training
         » Gait Training
         » Swallow Evaluation and training strengthening for safety
  • Patient requiring hydration
  • Patient requiring instruction for proper care of specialized dressings or skin treatments
  • Patients requiring teaching for care and maintenance of central venous lines, such as Hickman Catheters
  • Patients requiring teaching for new ostomy care
  • Complex wound care (multiple stage II, stage III, or stage IV) with associated compromised medical conditions
  • Patients with tracheostomies requiring frequent skilled care
  • Patients requiring blood transfusions on an IP basis
  • Patients requiring post-surgical care

Simple Process For Swing Bed Patient Admission

  1. Make one phone call to 740.395.8452 with pertinent patient information.
  2. The swing bed coordinator pre-certifies patient and reviews with HMC-Jackson physician for acceptance
  3. The swing bed coordinator notifies you of acceptance
  4. Nurse to Nurse hand off/report day of patient discharge from acute facility and admission into HMC-J Swing Bed Program
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