FIVE TAKEAWAYS
AGING AMERICA: IS YOUR REHAB PROGRAM READY FOR THE EVOLUTION?
The rise of medically complex patients is demanding innovation in rehabilitation services.
Is your rehab program ready for the evolution?
During a webinar on July 24, Sally Brooks and Cathy Knight of Kindred Hospital Rehabilitation Services and Craig Bolda of Community Healthcare System, joined together to discuss how rehab programs must evolve to meet the needs and demands of an aging America. The entire webinar can be accessed at ModernHealthcare.com / Aging America Webinar.
To accommodate high-acuity patients, the clinical environment and its staff must become more structured.
A rehab physician should determine if an Inpatient Rehabilitation Facility (IRF) is necessary and provide an individualized plan of care to ensure improvement. In an IRF, the patient participates in three hours of therapy per day, five days a week, as well as face-toface meetings with an advanced, interdisciplinary medical staff to assess any medical needs. Care initiatives including follow-up calls and adult child caregivers can also help rehab programs reduce readmissions and provide alternative support.
Acute inpatient rehab is highly regulated and complex, differing from other care settings.
With the implementation of the IMPACT Act on October 1, 2019, standardized patient data will be gathered across PAC settings. Without expert training on the new quality indicator measurements, patient acuity may be underestimated. Thus, accurate assessments are needed to assure appropriate resources are available. In addition, the rise of value-based payment models requires comprehensive data collection so high-performing rehab facilities are included in provider networks.
Inpatient rehabilitation leads to improved recovery and better outcomes over alternative care settings in many critical conditions, including stroke and trauma.
Patients treated in an IRF are significantly more likely to be discharged home sooner and have an improved quality-of-life as well as a greater functional recovery. While an IRF has a higher initial cost than post-acute settings, IRFs can be highly cost-effective while improving care transitions and have a reduced risk of mortality and hospital readmission.
There is a demand for rehab programs that meet the needs of medically complex patients.
About 11,000 people join Medicare every single day; additionally, the population aged 85+ is projected to increase by 123% by 2040. An older population of patients means more comorbidities, which equates to clinical and cost challenges. The need for acute rehab has never been greater for those who require intensive care.
Advanced robotics are among the tools making the biggest impact on this ever-changing patient population.
Assistive robots have increasingly made a difference in the speed of recovery for rehab patients. The Bionik InMotion robot physically guides brain injury patients through motor tasks by supporting their arms while also adapting to patients’ capabilities as they improve. Another innovation, the EksoGT, is a wearable robotic exoskeleton that supports patients through the continuum of early mobility. The Ekso is used in over 225 rehab centers to help stroke and spinal injury patients relearn to stand and walk.