The Hidden Gem: How to Polish Your Swing Bed Program into a Center of Excellence

I remember caring for a local farmer who had a major knee replacement at a regional medical center 100 miles away. His family was exhausted from the travel, and all he wanted was to be closer to home to recover. When he was finally transferred back to our Critical Access Hospital for the Swing Bed program, the relief on his and his wife's faces was palpable. This, I realized, is one of the most vital services we offer. It is the definition of community-based care.

Yet, in so many CAHs I’ve seen, the Swing Bed or Skilled Nursing program is treated like an afterthought. It's viewed as just an extension of the med-surg floor, the admission process is clunky, and its incredible financial and clinical potential is left untapped. This is a massive missed opportunity. A well-run Swing Bed program can be a powerful revenue engine, a tool to reduce readmissions, and a point of immense pride for your hospital.

The Cornerstone approach to optimizing this hidden gem is, as always, to build it from the bottom up. The success of a Swing Bed program lives and dies with the engagement of the interdisciplinary team at the bedside.

Polishing Your Program from the Inside Out:

1. Training for a New Mindset: Swing Bed is not med-surg. It requires a rehabilitative and proactive mindset. We provide targeted training for your nurses, therapists, social workers, and dietary staff on everything from Medicare admission criteria and documentation requirements to goal-setting and discharge planning. We train the team to think and act like a cohesive skilled nursing unit.

   
   

2. Evaluation of Progress, Not Just Presence: We help you move beyond just tracking census. We work with your team to evaluate the metrics that truly define success: average length of stay, percentage of patients discharged directly home, and patient-reported functional improvements. We make these metrics visible and celebrate the wins, so the team can see the incredible impact they are having.

   
   

3. Accountability Through a Dedicated Champion: A successful program needs a champion. We work with you to identify and empower a Swing Bed Coordinator—even if it’s a shared role initially. This person becomes accountable for leading a weekly, multidisciplinary team meeting where every patient's progress is discussed, barriers are identified, and the plan of care is advanced. This single meeting can transform a disjointed process into a powerhouse of patient-centered care.

   
   

Your Swing Bed program shouldn’t be a backup plan; it should be a destination. It’s a chance to provide exceptional, restorative care to your community members, right where they want to be: close to home. At Cornerstone, we can provide the framework and expertise to help your team polish that hidden gem until it shines.