Summary: The opioid crisis has hit every part of the U.S. health care system – skilled nursing facilities included. But the state and federal regulations haven’t moved as fast as the crisis, even though more and more providers are seeing these patients come through their doors. For the Communicare Family of Companies, which is based in Ohio and has 87 SNFs in some of the most opioid-affected states, there are ways that providers can help address the needs of patients struggling with addiction and other disorders. Fred Stratmann, Communicare’s general counsel, joined Rethink to talk about how SNFs could help and why the problem of caring for these patients goes back even further than the opioid epidemic. Listen to this episode to learn about: - Why nursing homes are filling the gaps in community resources - The regulatory hurdles to changing paradigms of care - The ways empty SNF beds could be repurposed for behavioral and substance use disorder treatment
