Your medical condition and level of care will determine whether you’ll need to stay at a skilled nursing facility or nursing facility.
What is a Nursing Facility?
Also known as a nursing home, this type of facility provides long-term care if you’re medically stable but require assistance with daily living. Nursing facilities are more permanent residences that provide generalized care to help you live with injuries, chronic illnesses and disabilities.
Nursing homes are staffed by non-certified personnel who are trained to help with activities of daily living (ADL), such as:
- Dressing
- Bathing
- Eating
- Household chores
- Medication management
Some nursing homes will bring in certified specialists for certain medical necessities, but they do not employ a full staff of medical professionals. Because these facilities are long-term residences, the staff are responsible for resident engagement, activity schedules and community building.
What is a Skilled Nursing Facility?
Skilled nursing provides expert medical care and rehabilitation to assist with surgery, illness or injury recovery. You can stay in a skilled nursing facility if you’re discharged from a hospital but still require a higher level of care than you would receive at home.
The length of your stay depends on the severity of your condition and rate of recovery, but it’s usually a short-term period to help you transition home.
Skilled nursing facilities employ certified registered nurses, licensed practical or vocational nurses, speech and language pathologists, and physical and occupational therapists.
You can receive a variety of specialized medical care, including:
- Wound care
- IV therapy
- Catheter care
- Ventilator care
- Vital monitoring
- Medication management
- Pain management
Medicare-Certified Skilled Nursing Facilities
A skilled nursing facility must meet specific state and federal requirements to be considered Medicare-certified. This type of facility accepts Medicare Part A to cover the cost of your short-term care.
All medical expenses are covered for the first 20 days of your stay in a Medicare-certified skilled nursing facility. An adjustable copayment fee schedule takes effect from day 21 to 100 and depends on your Medicare coverage. You are responsible for medical and service fees after 100 days.
Medicare will cover the following services and expenses:
- A semi-private room
- Meals
- Physical, occupation and speech therapies
- Medications and medical supplies
- Ambulance transportation
Embassy Healthcare offers dedicated skilled nursing services to ease the transition between hospital stays and home care. Contact us online or call 216-378-2050 for more information.
