Post-Acute Care Virtual Summit Report

The National Rural Health Resource Center convened a virtual summit of key stakeholders in May 2020 to examine the current state of post-acute care (PAC) in rural America. The COVID-19 pandemic has brought PAC/long-term care (LTC) into the national spotlight, as a significant percentage of pandemic deaths in the U.S. are occurring in LTC and skilled nursing facilities (SNFs). Summit attendees explored issues, challenges, and strategies related to the integration of rural acute and PAC and considered how it can be successfully included in a population health and value-payment future.

This report provides background on the importance of PAC, the process used to gather Summit findings, comprehensive lists of identified strategies and tactics to address high priority rural PAC issues, discussion notes on how state Flex Programs can help rural providers address PAC, a collection of PAC best practices from the field, a Summit participant list, and more.