This session will examine how one academic medical center utilizes hospital funding to facilitate the discharge of indigent patients. The presentation will outline how the organization redesigned its process using a commercial insurance model to incorporate defined benefits, a prior authorization process, a formal single case agreement contract, and claims payment processes. Presenters will discuss how this process has streamlined operations, clarified expectations for all parties, and produced a standardized and defensible process with robust reporting for the organization’s oversight committee.

Learning Objectives:
1. Describe the benefits of using an insurer model for handling hospital funding of post-acute care

2. Identify best practices for appropriate separation of duties to avoid conflicts of interest and opportunities for financial misconduct

3. Discuss how an aggressive refunding program can pull money back into the hospital funding program for use with future patients