News & Info

Post-Acute Care’s Role in Creating Better Health Outcomes

 

Hospital stays are becoming shorter and shorter and many people are being discharged “sicker and quicker.” A recent study published in the Journal of the American Geriatrics Society discovered that shorter stays in the hospital are linked to earlier hospital readmissions.

One solution to this issue that is gaining popularity is post-acute care, provided in post-acute rehabilitation centers, skilled nursing facilities, assisted living communities, outpatient clinics and in the home setting. Community Physical Therapy (CPT) provides services in all of these settings as well as our own outpatient therapy center located in Addison, Illinois. Utilizing these services provides numerous advantages, including:

• Post-acute care is substantially less expensive than a hospital stay.
• People can recover in a comfortable setting.
• A trained and licensed team of therapy professionals work together to create an individualized wellness plan designed to meet your specific goals – including a return to maximum functionality and independence.

So how can you ensure you are getting the best post-acute care possible? It pays to do your research before you are hospitalized. If you have a planned surgery – such as a joint replacement – which you know will require significant post-operative care, start looking at your options now. Obviously, no one plans to have a heart attack or stroke, but if you’re at high risk for an adverse medical event, you may want to do little research to be prepared. Trying to make a decision on where to recuperate while in the midst of a hospital stay is probably not going to yield the best result.

Here are some tips on how to find a quality Post-Acute Care Rehabilitation Program:

• Look at their record for achieving recovery outcomes and patient satisfaction.
• Make sure they have the specific services and the experience in the care you’ll need for your particular recovery.
• How well do they manage pain?
• What is the average length of treatment?
• What insurance do they accept? Are they Medicare and Medicaid certified?
• Are therapists knowledgeable, friendly and encouraging?
• Do they have the equipment and treatment modalities in place to help speed recovery?

One of the companies CPT partners with on a regular basis is The Alden Network. Alden’s Short-Term Rehabilitation Centers consistently rank higher than the national averages on patient satisfaction (most facilities rank 10 out of 10), length of stay, ability to manage pain and other factors people look to when searching for quality post-acute care. A new therapy tool offering at Alden’s facilities is the NeuroGym, which CPT heads and manages. The NeuroGym helps when patients cannot use traditional equipment due to a loss of functioning and motor skills. From the basics such as standing and static balance to walking and gross and fine motor control, the NeuroGym and CPT therapists can help patients maintain and improve their functional independence.

For more information about post-acute rehabilitation and recovery and how CPT can help, give us a call at 630.766.0505.