Review of Long-Term Care Hospital Classification - Asheville Specialty Hospital

For fiscal year 2006, Asheville Specialty Hospital's (Specialty) average Medicare inpatient length of stay exceeded 25 days.  Thus, Specialty complied with Federal regulations governing average length of stay, and its classification as a long-term care hospital (LTCH) was proper.  Hospitals classified as LTCHs must have an average Medicare inpatient length of stay of greater than 25 days, which includes all Medicare covered and noncovered days and omits all Medicare leave and pass days.  However, hospitals that were excluded from the prospective payment system in 1986 were subject to a different length-of-stay requirement.  These hospitals must have an average inpatient length of stay for all patients of greater than 20 days.  Specialty was subject to the 25-day average length-of-stay requirement.  The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, which administers the Medicare program, directed the Medicare fiscal intermediaries to verify that LTCHs complied with Federal requirements.

Because Specialty complied with Federal regulations, we are not offering any recommendations.