In a skilled nursing era where success is increasingly defined by the volume and accuracy of data, a major real estate investment trust (REIT) in the space on Tuesday announced a partnership with a leading health care analytics firm.
The Irvine, Calif.-based Sabra Health Care REIT (Nasdaq: SBRA) will begin using three data products from PointRight in an attempt to more closely analyze its performance on several key industry metrics.
“At Sabra, we invest in relationships,” the REIT’s executive vice president for asset management Peter Nyland said in a statement announcing the deal. “We believe in supporting our partners through a collaborative approach, and we are excited to offer our skilled nursing providers the opportunity to participate in a new cooperative program between Sabra and PointRight.”
The Cambridge, Mass.-based data firm’s software will track re-hospitalization statistics, Five-Star Quality Rating System reporting information, and submissions to the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services’ Minimum Data Set for long-term care patients.
Sabra has been bullish on skilled nursing over the last year and a half, shaking up the industry last summer with its deal to acquire former “pure play” SNF REIT Care Capital Properties. But that optimism extends mostly to providers that can demonstrate an ability to adapt to the new incentives in the industry, according to CEO Rick Matros — meaning a shift away from custodial care and a push toward taking on increasingly complex residents.
“Providers that can take care of [residents] with the best outcomes, take the highest-acuity patients without concerns about re-hospitalizations, those are going to be the winners. I think skilled nursing is well-positioned to do that,” Matros told SNN last year.
The focus on data has also been a major industry trend over the last 12 months or so, with leaders emphasizing that referrals will no longer stem from maintaining friendly relationships with local hospital discharge coordinators. Instead, in an era of value-based purchasing and other alternative payment models, acute care partners will require cold, hard facts to justify sending patients to a skilled nursing facility that could make or break their overall reimbursement picture.
PointRight’s partnership with Sabra also marks another step in its trajectory: The firm currently counts about 2,500 SNFs and provider networks among its clients, and recently began offering certain exclusive quality-metrics data through the National Investment Center for Seniors Housing & Care’s (NIC) proprietary MAP Data Service.
“SNF tenants and operators must have up-to-date, normalized, and trusted clinical analytics for actionable decision-making,” PointRight CEO Steven Scott said in the statement publicizing the Sabra partnership.
Written by Alex Spanko
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