DataPoint: Rehab Utilization Changes

Nationwide, Ultra-High rehabilitation categories represented 56.7 percent of all Medicare Fee-for-Service (FFS) Resource Utilization Group (RUG) days in 2014 and 59.4 percent in 2016, based on a recently released LeadingAge NY analysis of Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) data. From 2014 to 2016, Ultra-High rehab increased in 46 states, while all other rehab categories decreased. Very-High rehab showed little variation, going from 23.8 percent in 2014 to 23.6 percent in 2016. New York State’s 6.2 percent Ultra-High rehab growth represented an increase of more than two times the national change and was the third largest increase nationwide. Ultra-High rehab in the state increased to 63.3 percent in 2016, which ranked seventh nationally. In 2016, the New York City and Long Island regions each attributed over 77 percent of their total RUG days to Ultra-High rehab, while the Syracuse region utilized Ultra-High rehab the least at 48.8 percent.

The entire skilled nursing facility (SNF) public use file can be downloaded here.

Contact: Ken Allison, kallison@leadingageny.org, 518-867-8820