Rehabilitation therapy can be a godsend after hospitalization, such as a stroke, fall, accident, joint replacement, severe burns, or spinal cord injury. Physical therapy, occupational and speech therapy can be provided in a variety of settings, including hospitals, nursing homes, clinics, and homes. It is important to identify high quality and safe options with experts who have experienced treatment for your condition.
What kind of rehabilitation therapy do I need?
Physiotherapy helps patients improve strength, stability, movement and reduce pain through usually targeted exercise. Some physical therapists specialize in neurological, cardiovascular, or orthopedic issues. There are also experts in the elderly and children. Occupational therapy focuses on specific activities (called “occupations”). Often, they require fine motor skills, such as brushing teeth, cutting food with a knife, and dressing. Speech and speech therapy help people communicate. Some patients may need respiratory therapy if they have problems with breathing or if they need to wean them from a ventilator.
Does insurance cover rehabilitation?
Medicare, health insurance companies, workers’ compensation, and some states Medicaid plans cover rehabilitation therapy, but plans may refuse to pay for certain settings and limit the amount of treatments received. Some insurers may require prior approval, and some insurers may terminate coverage if they have not improved. Private insurance companies often impose annual restrictions on outpatient therapy. While traditional Medicare is generally the least restrictive, private Medicare advantage plans may closely monitor progress and limit where patients can receive treatment.
Should I seek rehabilitation for inpatient patients?
Patients who still need nursing or physician care but are able to withstand three hours of treatment five days a week may be eligible for admission to a unit within a specialized rehabilitation hospital or general hospital. Patients usually require at least two of the major types of rehabilitation therapy: physical, professional, or speech. It averages around 12 days.
How can I choose?
Find a skilled place to treat people with a diagnosis. Many hospitalized hospitals list their specialties on their websites. People with complex or severe medical conditions may wish to connect their rehabilitation hospitals to Vanguard’s academic medical center, a new treatment, even if they are on a plane.
Like spinal cord injuries, he said, “Like these life-changing, rather catastrophic, young patients travelling to another state for treatment.”
However, there are benefits to choosing a hospital near family and friends who can help you after you are discharged from the hospital. Therapists can help train home caregivers.
How can I find a rehabilitation hospital?
Acute Care Hospital discharge planners or caseworkers must provide options. You can use the Medicare Care Comparison website to search for inpatient rehabilitation facilities by location or name. There you will be able to see the number of patients treated by the rehabilitation hospital in your condition. Search by area of expertise through the American Medical Rehabilitation Providers Association, an industry association that lists its members.
Find out what special techniques the hospital has, such as driving a car or truck where patients can practice coming and going to the vehicle, or a kitchen table with cooking utensils to practice eating.
How can I be sure that rehabilitation hospitals are reliable?
It’s not easy. Like nursing homes, Medicare does not analyse staffing levels or post website safety test results. You can ask your state public health agency or hospital to provide testing reports for the past three years. Such reports can be technical, but you need to get the point. If the report says “immediate risk” was called, it means that the inspector has identified a safety issue that puts the patient at risk.
The proportion of patients readmitted to general hospitals for potentially preventable reasons is an important safety measure. Overall, for-profit rehabilitation has a higher readmission rate than nonprofits, but some have lower readmission rates, with some higher. There may be no nearby options. There are less than 400 rehabilitation hospitals, and most common hospitals do not have rehabilitation units.
Under the Quality section of Care Compare, you can find hospital readmission rates. Lower prices than the national average are better.
Another measure of quality is how often patients return home after rehabilitation, not at a nursing home, hospital, or medical facility. The measure is called “Discharge to the Community” and is listed in the Quality section of Care Compare. A higher rate than the national average is better.
Find hospital reviews on Yelp and other sites. Patients see the same therapist on most days or ask for the spinning cast of the character. Ask if the therapist has received board accreditations that he has acquired after intensive training to treat a patient’s particular condition.
Visit if possible and don’t just look at the hospital room where the treatment exercise is being carried out. Injuries often occur in 21 hours in their own room or in another part of the building rather than in the patient’s treatment. Infections, falls, bed sources, and medication errors are risks. If possible, observe whether the nurse responds to call lights quickly, appears to be overloaded with too many patients, or plays indifferently on her cell phone. Ask current patients and their families if they are satisfied with their care.
What if I can’t handle 3 hours of treatment a day?
Nursing homes that provide rehabilitation may be suitable for patients who do not need physician supervision but are not ready to go home. Facilities generally provide 24 hours a day of nursing care. The amount of rehabilitation varies from patient to patient. With over 14,500 skilled nursing facilities in the United States, 12 times more than hospitals that offer rehabilitation, nursing homes may be your only option nearby.
You can search for them through the Medicare Care Comparison website. (Read our previous guide to finding a good, well-staffed home to know how to assess your overall staffing.)
What if a patient is too frail in a nursing home?
They may need a long-term care hospital. People are specialized in coma, patients on ventilators, and have acute medical conditions that require the presence of a doctor. The patient stays for at least four weeks, some are there for several months. Care Compare is useful for searching. There are fewer than 350 such hospitals.
I’m strong enough to get home. How can I get treatment?
Many rehabilitation hospitals offer outpatient therapy. You can also go to the clinic or a therapist can come to you. You can hire a home healthcare provider or find a therapist who has insurance and calls home. Your doctor or hospital may refer you. Care comparison lists whether home healthcare providers offer physical, occupational, or speech therapy. You can search for board-certified therapists on the American Physiotherapy Association website.
Patients may be moved from hospital to nursing facilities or homes while undergoing rehabilitation. Alice Bell, a senior specialist at APTA, said patients should try to limit the number of transitions for their own safety.
“Every time a patient moves from one setting to another, they’re in a higher risk zone,” she said.
