Effectiveness Of The Medicare Skilled Nursing Facility Value-Based Program Was Likely Hampered By Small Size & High Variability Of Incentives

Results from the first three years of the Medicare Skilled Nursing Facility Value-Based Purchasing (SNF VBP) program suggest that it was not successful at reducing all-cause 30-day readmissions from SNFs to hospitals. A recent study proposes that the lack of success could be due to the small size and high variability of financial incentives offered. The program began in federal fiscal year (FFY) 2019 (starting October 2018). The program’s first three years involved stays in 14,189 SNFs by Medicare fee-for-service (FFS) beneficiaries recently discharged from the hospital to a SNF. The SNFs had . . .