Patheous Health has developed a valuable new concept—Pathway 360™—a toolkit of resources that promotes sustainable growth at the facility level. A standardized model like Pathway 360 turns every clinical team into a growth engine by identifying eligible patients earlier and ensuring timely access to dysphagia imaging. It aligns therapy, nursing, and dietary in a shared protocol—dramatically reducing missed opportunities, unbilled services, and murky, non-compliant documentation. By working together across disciplines, your staff can deliver dependable, evidence-based care that elevates quality scores and measurable gains in patient care.
This toolkit’s resources and materials will be available exclusively for our customers in our online repository, as well as an offline/printable option. The Pathway 360 toolkit will include:
- Assessment tools
- Diagnostic code and documentation spreadsheet
- Evaluation template for dietary
- Dietary waiver toolkit
- A family education toolkit
- Red-flag alerts for other departments
- Dysphagia imaging impact calculator for PDPM
- QAPI reporting template
- Educational materials
- Compliance checklists
- …and more
The benefits for SNFs include:
- Stronger quality indicators, reduced rehospitalizations, and better alignment with PDPM requirements
- Regulatory compliance and survey readiness
- Enhanced payer mix and survey-ready documentation that protects reimbursement
New Toolkit Covers Critical Issues Around Dysphagia Testing & Treatment
Patheous Health saw—and addressed—an industry need. We recognize that dysphagia concerns and discussions often occur with challenging patient populations, whose care teams may also be managing various other chronic health concerns, compromised mental acuity, and possibly family complexities, as well. In complex healthcare cases, dysphagia imaging may not always be prioritized, but untreated (or mistreated) dysphagia can lead to serious risks—including aspiration pneumonia, malnutrition, choking, and more.
We also understand that dysphagia, swallowing difficulties, and modified diets may be misunderstood by patients and their families. By developing this toolkit, we’re empowering SLPs and SNF care teams to know when—and how—to test and treat patients with swallowing difficulties, boosting imaging opportunities and associated revenue. These materials will address critical issues around dysphagia, including:
- What’s the right time for the patient to have a dysphagia study?
- Are they a candidate for MBS or FEES imaging?
- What documentation do SLPs and SNFs need for each patient?
- What’s the most appropriate path to take after the dysphagia imaging is completed?
- What should the SLP tell the patients’ families about the imaging, diagnosis, and recommended treatment, including diet modifications?
- How can SLPs and care teams simplify the complexity around dysphagia, helping patients and their families better understand the path forward?
By launching Pathway 360—and championing proper imaging and care—Patheous Health is demonstrating their key brand attributes, including excellence in service, partnership, and care delivery. This effort will help reinforce Patheous Health’s important role as part of patients’ care teams, as well as a good business partner and steward for SNFs. There’s also a ROI/financial component to Pathway 360, as it will help demonstrate why patients with swallowing difficulties need dysphagia imaging—and increase imaging volume and revenue for SNFs. Additionally, the materials and resources will also outline the risks associated with untreated (or improperly treated) dysphagia, urging SNFs to contact Patheous Health for onsite imaging if a patient is experiencing swallowing difficulties.
To learn more about Pathway 360—and to access these resources—please visit Pathway360™: SLP Toolkit – Patheous Health.
