Post-acute Care

Every day across Wisconsin hospitals, there are hundreds of patients who are ready to be discharged but remain in the hospital awaiting a post-acute care placement. Each day, the hundreds of avoidable hospital days have a significant impact not only on those patients whose post-acute care is delayed but also on the health care system broadly.

According to a report written by Baker Tilly for DHS in 2023, there were about 177,000 avoidable hospital days statewide in 2022. Baker Tilly estimated the annual cost for hospitals to care for the patients awaiting discharge to be about $485 million. In addition to the increased costs, the avoidable patient days also affect hospital capacity. The 177,000 avoidable hospital days are 177,000 days that are not available to care for other patients who need hospital-level services.

There are a variety reasons for delayed discharges from hospitals and WHA’s post-acute care work focuses on those issues:

• Some patients remain in the hospital due to guardianship delays. (See Next-of-Kin Legislation page)
• There are too few providers that will accept patients who have complex conditions. (See 2023 Assembly Bill 1088/2023 Senate Bill 1027)
• Payer issues, including Medicaid and Family Care eligibility determinations, can delay care.