If you work in hospital care, post-acute, or discharge planning anywhere in Central Texas, you already know that 2026 is going to look very different from the past several years. CMS is tightening expectations around quality, safety, documentation, staffing, and the stability of post-acute transitions.

These changes will directly influence how quickly hospitals can discharge patients, how SNFs accept residents, and what support families will need during already stressful situations.

Here’s what I’m seeing every day on the ground — and what hospital teams across Austin, Round Rock, Georgetown, San Marcos, Waco, and the surrounding areas should be preparing for now.

What’s Really Changing

CMS is moving toward stronger outcome-based accountability. That includes:

• Expanded SNF Quality Measures tied to reimbursement

•Stricter reporting around falls, dementia-related readmissions, and infections

•Greater attention to wound progression vs. healing

•Increased oversight of staffing levels and turnover

•More scrutiny around whether a discharge destination is truly safe

•A stronger emphasis on avoiding preventable readmissions

In plain language: the “next level of care” matters more than ever.

How This Impacts Central Texas Hospital Teams

Hospitals will face growing pressure to justify each discharge destination, especially for high-risk seniors. That includes patients with:

• dementia or cognitive decline • repeated falls or mobility loss • wounds or wound vacs • behavioral changes • caregiver exhaustion • unsafe home environments

These are also the cases most likely to bounce back within 72 hours if the transition isn’t handled well. The margin for error is thinner now, and discharge teams will feel that.

What This Means for SNFs

SNFs in Central Texas will need to document more clearly, communicate more consistently, and accept only patients they can safely manage. Higher staffing expectations and expanded quality measures may reduce the number of facilities able to take high-acuity referrals quickly.

We may see more SNFs declining complex cases, more delays as operators work through corporate approvals, and more families needing alternative solutions outside of a traditional SNF stay.

Why Some Seniors May Be Better Supported in Assisted Living, Memory Care, or Care Homes

As the criteria for SNF admissions become more defined and hospitals manage higher-acuity caseloads, there will be situations where a traditional SNF stay isn’t the best clinical fit. For seniors whose primary needs involve cognition, fall risk, behavior support, daily structure, or wound oversight that doesn’t require skilled nursing, Assisted Living, Memory Care, or smaller residential Care Homes may offer a safer and more predictable environment.

This is not about replacing SNFs. It’s about aligning each patient with the level of support that matches their risks, abilities, and what CMS now expects around safe transitions.

Many AL/MC communities across Central Texas have strengthened their care teams, which is why these environments are becoming appropriate for a wider range of seniors than in previous years.

What Families Need Is Changing Too

Families are overwhelmed. They’re trying to process a medical crisis, financial pressure, long-term planning, and a complicated healthcare system — all while being asked to make decisions quickly.

They need someone who can slow the moment down, help them understand what’s safe, and guide them through next steps. Hospitals simply don’t have the bandwidth to provide that level of support consistently.

How Oasis Senior Advisors Is Responding

We are building a 48-hour transitional model with partnering hospitals across Central Texas. The goal is straightforward:

• stabilize high-risk discharges

•reduce delays for case managers

•give families clear, calm guidance

•match seniors to appropriate care quickly

•ensure the receiving community is clinically prepared

•reduce the risk of readmission

We gather the key transition details, coordinate with families, prepare communities with the information they need, and help keep the process moving — without overwhelming the hospital team.

Nothing about this process is automated or impersonal. It’s human, timely, and rooted in local knowledge.

Why This Matters for 2026

Hospitals that put energy into safe, well-supported transitions will outperform those that try to operate under older discharge models. Families will feel more supported. Communities and Facilities will be better prepared. And care teams will reduce unnecessary readmissions tied to falls, wounds, medication issues, and dementia-related crises.

The healthcare landscape is shifting quickly, but we don’t have to navigate it reactively. We can shape it together.

If your team is reviewing discharge workflows, clarifying referral pathways, or preparing for CMS 2026 expectations, I’d be glad to talk and show how Oasis supports both clinical teams and families during these heightened transitions.

512-800-1469 Oasis Senior Advisors Austin & Central Texas

Helping families make safe, informed transitions across our region.

John Brown, Certified Senior Advisor®
Oasis Senior Advisors – Austin & Central Texas
Guiding Families. Honoring Seniors. Finding the Right Care.