As our aging population in the United States continues to grow our healthcare systems must adapt to deliver care to these patients. The Affordable Care Act has placed a high priority on preventative care and expanding a patient’s continuum of care. The long term care segment of healthcare will need to grow significantly in order to care for these patients and continue to improve avoidable hospital admissions. Skilled nursing facilities sit on top of the pyramid of long term care facilities in terms of patient acuity, number of nursing staff and cost. The greatest challenge for healthcare administrators may be delaying the need for patients that need this level of care in addition to attracting highly qualified staff to work in long term
