Medicare Advantage prior authorization volume, denial/appeal patterns, and new CMS rules create predictable discharge friction for IRF/SNF/Home Health. You can shorten LOS by timing and targeting prior auth smarter—not by working harder.

Prior Auth Is Now a Throughput Variable (Not Just a Billing Headache)

A tiny, daily huddle practice to surface hidden risks, clarify after-hours rescue, and build psychological safety.

Two sentences make your team safer

A quarter of patients never fill a new discharge prescription. Bundling bedside delivery with pharmacist counseling and coverage fixes makes the first night safe—and often pays for itself.

Meds‑to‑Beds: The discharge habit that helps patients tonight and pays for itself

A short, structured call within 24 hours catches the failures that drive 72-hour ED returns—missing meds, no ride, DME gaps, and uncertainty. Do the call, follow a script, and measure it.

The 24-Hour Post-Discharge Call That Prevents the 72-Hour Return

Home health often misses the within-48-hours start window. Late starts cluster by day of week, distance, and payer rules—and they’re tied to higher ED returns. A simple 24-hour pre-call plus capacity check prevents many failures.

Home Health Starts: The First 48 Hours Decide the Next 30 Days

Hospitals can’t buy speed, but they can publish it. Here’s how to make access—and weekends—visible.

Are Anti-Kickback Rules Killing Your Length of Stay?

ED boarding isn’t just an operations headache. For older adults, longer time in the ED is linked to delirium, higher in-hospital mortality, longer inpatient stays, and a self-reinforcing occupancy cycle.

Boarding’s Hidden Clinical Tax on Older Adults

Preferred skilled-nursing networks can improve handoffs and sometimes shorten stays and spend—but they carry compliance, equity, and market-capacity risks. Use them as a tool, not a tunnel.

Preferred SNF Networks: Where They Help—and Where They Can Hurt

Margins aren’t moved by average cost per inpatient day—they’re driven by the marginal cost of one extra day and the opportunity cost of blocked beds.

The Hidden Economics of Hospital Bed Delays (it’s not what you think)

Short, practical articles on care coordination, operations, and building NextBed.