Kindred Hospital Rehabilitation Services works with more than 300 hospital-based programs nationwide to bring the best possible clinical and operational outcomes.
Kindred Hospital Rehabilitation Services, October 13, 2022
Hospital-based rehabilitation programs already expect to see a major influx of medically complex patients, including those with neurological conditions, in the coming decades.
However, COVID-19 and other chronic illnesses have further spurred this increase and caused an immediate rise in medically complex patients with multiple comorbidities.
For example, stroke prevalence is expected to rise 21% by 2030, and more than 1.2 million citizens are projected to have Parkinson’s disease.1,2 Moreover, patients experiencing prolonged symptoms of COVID-19 are expected to face additional medical complexities and disabilities.3
This leaves hospital leaders with a significant question: What can be done to care for the current and future medically complex patient population, especially in a hospital rehabilitation setting?
In this white paper, we’ll examine three areas that drive the greatest impact on treating medically complex patients:
Clinical staff
Tech innovation
Patient and family member experience
1. Getting Your Staff Prepared Clinically
Many rehabilitation programs make the mistake of trying to serve this new medically complex patient population with the same staffing model that they have used in the past. Positions that are particularly important for treating medically complex patients are:
Rehabilitation-Experienced Nurses
Rehabilitation-experienced nurses are trained to help patients with disabilities and chronic illnesses achieve maximum functional improvements. Additionally, recent research uncovered that individuals discharged after experiencing severe cases of COVID-19 significantly benefited from multi-disciplinary inpatient rehabilitation.4
Speech and Language Pathologists
Speech and language pathologists play an important role in helping patients reach optimal functionality. For instance, receiving speech therapy early in the rehabilitation process is most effective at treating aphasia, which is present in up to 38% of stroke patients.5
Clinical Liaisons and Certifications
Highly-trained clinical liaisons are needed to achieve optimal timing of rehabilitation entry. CARF and Joint Commission certifications improve the comprehensiveness of patient treatment and the range of patients a program may treat, as well as support improved program performance. On average, CARF accredited programs experience a 26% increase in annual patients served.6
Infection Control Specialists
A dedicated infection control specialist or team can help obtain standards such as certifications set forth by federal programs and agencies, appropriate staffing, employee protection, patient safety and clinical expertise.
2. Adapting Through Tech Innovation
The usage of telehealth technology has rapidly increased since the beginning of COVID-19, with baby boomers accounting for the greatest portion of new users. There has been an overall increase of 155% - jumping from 9% pre-pandemic to 23%.7
By embracing new technologies, rehabilitation programs and their patients can achieve greater levels of success while increasing patient satisfaction.
Upgrades to Develop Best-in-Industry Brain Care
Technology is vital to developing leading rehabilitation programs that stand out within the market and deliver the best outcomes. Robotics are among the tools making the biggest impact for the rapidly changing patient population.
For instance, BIONIK InMotion robots physically guide brain injury patients through tasks by supporting their arms.8 As patients progress, the robots decrease their levels of physical support, thereby adapting to patient capabilities. BIONIK robots are effective for treating patients who have suffered strokes, cerebral palsy, multiple sclerosis, Parkinson’s disease and other neurological conditions.
3. Patient and Family Member Experience
In addition to clinical expertise, innovative technology and top-rated rehabilitation programing, support from hospital staff throughout a patient’s care journey is just as critical for patient outcomes and family involvement.
The Importance of Follow-Up Calls to Improve Outcomes
Working follow-up calls into standard discharge procedure can produce optimal outcomes for both patients and rehabilitation programs. For instance, brain injury patients who receive follow-up calls are more likely to consistently take medication. They are also more likely to attend clinic visits, which correlates with reduced readmission risk.1 Follow-up calls give patients and their caregivers the opportunity to ask questions and resolve any misunderstandings.
Supporting the Adult Child Caregiver
For many medically complex patients, an adult child takes on the role of caregiver. Initiatives to support the caregiver can help rehabilitation programs reduce readmissions and improve patient outcomes.
There are a variety of initiatives that can be used to support caregivers:9
Transitional Support
Educational Materials
Case Managers
Peer Support Groups
Mobile App Technology
By developing rehabilitation-specific expertise around key areas including staffing, patient and caregiver experience and tech innovation, coupled with a flexible care model that allows a hospital to shift their services offered to benefit each patient’s needs,10 rehabilitation programs can reach new levels of success.
To learn how we can help your rehabilitation program adapt to the rapidly changing patient population, visit www.kindredrehab.com.
Kindred Hospital Rehabilitation Services, September 12, 2022
Hospital-based rehabilitation programs already expect to see a major influx of medically complex patients, including those with neurological conditions, in the coming decades.
However, COVID-19 and other chronic illnesses have further spurred this increase and caused an immediate rise in medically complex patients with multiple comorbidities.
For example, stroke prevalence is expected to rise 21% by 2030, and more than 1.2 million citizens are projected to have Parkinson’s disease.1,2 Moreover, patients experiencing prolonged symptoms of COVID-19 are expected to face additional medical complexities and disabilities.3
This leaves hospital leaders with a significant question: What can be done to care for the current and future medically complex patient population, especially in a hospital rehabilitation setting?
In this white paper, we’ll examine three areas that drive the greatest impact on treating medically complex patients:
Clinical staff
Tech innovation
Patient and family member experience
1. Getting Your Staff Prepared Clinically
Many rehabilitation programs make the mistake of trying to serve this new medically complex patient population with the same staffing model that they have used in the past. Positions that are particularly important for treating medically complex patients are:
Rehabilitation-Experienced Nurses
Rehabilitation-experienced nurses are trained to help patients with disabilities and chronic illnesses achieve maximum functional improvements. Additionally, recent research uncovered that individuals discharged after experiencing severe cases of COVID-19 significantly benefited from multi-disciplinary inpatient rehabilitation.4
Speech and Language Pathologists
Speech and language pathologists play an important role in helping patients reach optimal functionality. For instance, receiving speech therapy early in the rehabilitation process is most effective at treating aphasia, which is present in up to 38% of stroke patients.5
Clinical Liaisons and Certifications
Highly-trained clinical liaisons are needed to achieve optimal timing of rehabilitation entry. CARF and Joint Commission certifications improve the comprehensiveness of patient treatment and the range of patients a program may treat, as well as support improved program performance. On average, CARF accredited programs experience a 26% increase in annual patients served.6
Infection Control Specialists
A dedicated infection control specialist or team can help obtain standards such as certifications set forth by federal programs and agencies, appropriate staffing, employee protection, patient safety and clinical expertise.
2. Adapting Through Tech Innovation
The usage of telehealth technology has rapidly increased since the beginning of COVID-19, with baby boomers accounting for the greatest portion of new users. There has been an overall increase of 155% - jumping from 9% pre-pandemic to 23%.7
By embracing new technologies, rehabilitation programs and their patients can achieve greater levels of success while increasing patient satisfaction.
Upgrades to Develop Best-in-Industry Brain Care
Technology is vital to developing leading rehabilitation programs that stand out within the market and deliver the best outcomes. Robotics are among the tools making the biggest impact for the rapidly changing patient population.
For instance, BIONIK InMotion robots physically guide brain injury patients through tasks by supporting their arms.8 As patients progress, the robots decrease their levels of physical support, thereby adapting to patient capabilities. BIONIK robots are effective for treating patients who have suffered strokes, cerebral palsy, multiple sclerosis, Parkinson’s disease and other neurological conditions.
3. Patient and Family Member Experience
In addition to clinical expertise, innovative technology and top-rated rehabilitation programing, support from hospital staff throughout a patient’s care journey is just as critical for patient outcomes and family involvement.
The Importance of Follow-Up Calls to Improve Outcomes
Working follow-up calls into standard discharge procedure can produce optimal outcomes for both patients and rehabilitation programs. For instance, brain injury patients who receive follow-up calls are more likely to consistently take medication. They are also more likely to attend clinic visits, which correlates with reduced readmission risk.1 Follow-up calls give patients and their caregivers the opportunity to ask questions and resolve any misunderstandings.
Supporting the Adult Child Caregiver
For many medically complex patients, an adult child takes on the role of caregiver. Initiatives to support the caregiver can help rehabilitation programs reduce readmissions and improve patient outcomes.
There are a variety of initiatives that can be used to support caregivers:9
Transitional Support
Educational Materials
Case Managers
Peer Support Groups
Mobile App Technology
By developing rehabilitation-specific expertise around key areas including staffing, patient and caregiver experience and tech innovation, coupled with a flexible care model that allows a hospital to shift their services offered to benefit each patient’s needs,10 rehabilitation programs can reach new levels of success.
To learn how we can help your rehabilitation program adapt to the rapidly changing patient population, visit www.kindredrehab.com.
Kindred Hospital Rehabilitation Services, August 1, 2022
While already at a crisis level, the demand for healthcare workers is projected to continue to grow by nine percent annually through 2030.1
To overcome this, hospitals are looking for innovative solutions and an integrated care approach beyond focusing solely on recruiting and HR functions.
Learn five advantages of partnership that can help hospitals gain access resources and expertise to help their rehabilitation unit excel, while overcoming today’s top recruitment and retention challenges.
1. Drive program optimization and efficiency
As patient acuity continues to rise, the demand for resources has never been higher. Having a team of local and national experts focused on the latest trends, quality data and best practices enables hospitals to run highly efficient units, ultimately requiring less local resources.
Further, providing multiple post-acute services within a system’s continuum helps patients receive the right form of care at the right time in their care journey and stay for the appropriate amount of time. Providing these services can also free needed acute beds, allow patients to progress in their recovery and lower the risk of readmission.
2. Identify and recruit specialized rehabilitation talent
An established partner will have a team with local and national reach dedicated to recruiting top talent, such as highly-trained therapists, clinicians and social workers. This helps the unit successfully hire individuals that match the culture of the hospital and the specific needs of the community.
Once an individual is hired, it is critical to support their career path by providing training and educational pathways.
3. Best-in-class employee training and education
A recent study found that approximately one in three healthcare workers intend to reduce their work hours, while roughly one in five intend to leave their profession altogether.2In large part, this is due to many healthcare professionals feeling unprepared to meet the growing need.3
Supplying the latest educational resources through a dedicated partner helps team members excel within their role, and also helps improve employee satisfaction and retention.
4. Live out its mission and values through a positive culture
"I've never seen this level of disaffection between clinicians and their employers," said Gerard Brogan, director at National Nurses United.1 A top factor contributing to this discontent is the lack of connection between team members and a hospital’s mission and values.
When hospital staff align with a company’s mission and values, they are more likely to enjoy their work, resulting in higher productivity levels and engagement. Research highlights mission-driven workers are 54 percent more likely to stay for five years at a company and 30 percent more likely to grow into high performers.4
An ideal partner will reflect the hospital’s unique culture and mission, and will help further the mission among employees and the community.
5. A reputation of excellence
An experienced partner provides operational and clinical excellence that helps the program stand out. The additional resources and best practices also fosters greater efficiency, leading to less burnout and more flexibility.
A partner with access to resources that aid in employee personal well-being, also helps a hospital become an employer of choice within their community.
The benefit of partnership
Utilizing resources to boost employee engagement, enhance employee skillsets and foster a positive work environment will continue to be a defining factor among hospitals across the nation. One of the factors that sets successful hospitals apart is their choice to partner with an expert.
Through a history of successful joint-venture partnerships and management agreements, we work with leading hospitals to more effectively meet the needs of their patients, produce excellent outcomes and ultimately foster long-term employee satisfaction.
Boston-Fleischhauer, C., & Critchleey, N. (2021, November). 6 hard truths about the nursing shortage the entire C-suite needs to know. Advisory Board. Retrieved February 8, 2022, from https://www.advisory.com/blog/2021/11/nursing-shortage
Sinsky, C. A., Brown, R. L., Stillman, M. J., & Linzer, M. (2021, December 8). Covid-related stress and work intentions in a sample of US Health Care Workers. Mayo Clinic Proceedings: Innovations, Quality & Outcomes. Retrieved March 29, 2022, from https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2542454821001260
Kindred Hospital Rehabilitation Services, June 8, 2022
While already at a crisis level, the demand for healthcare workers is projected to continue to grow by nine percent annually through 2030.1
To overcome this, hospitals are looking for innovative solutions and an integrated care approach beyond focusing solely on recruiting and HR functions.
Learn five advantages of partnership that can help hospitals gain access resources and expertise to help their rehabilitation unit excel, while overcoming today’s top recruitment and retention challenges.
1. Drive program optimization and efficiency
As patient acuity continues to rise, the demand for resources has never been higher. Having a team of local and national experts focused on the latest trends, quality data and best practices enables hospitals to run highly efficient units, ultimately requiring less local resources.
Further, providing multiple post-acute services within a system’s continuum helps patients receive the right form of care at the right time in their care journey and stay for the appropriate amount of time. Providing these services can also free needed acute beds, allow patients to progress in their recovery and lower the risk of readmission.
2. Identify and recruit specialized rehabilitation talent
An established partner will have a team with local and national reach dedicated to recruiting top talent, such as highly-trained therapists, clinicians and social workers. This helps the unit successfully hire individuals that match the culture of the hospital and the specific needs of the community.
Once an individual is hired, it is critical to support their career path by providing training and educational pathways.
3. Best-in-class employee training and education
A recent study found that approximately one in three healthcare workers intend to reduce their work hours, while roughly one in five intend to leave their profession altogether.2In large part, this is due to many healthcare professionals feeling unprepared to meet the growing need.3
Supplying the latest educational resources through a dedicated partner helps team members excel within their role, and also helps improve employee satisfaction and retention.
4. Live out its mission and values through a positive culture
"I've never seen this level of disaffection between clinicians and their employers," said Gerard Brogan, director at National Nurses United.1 A top factor contributing to this discontent is the lack of connection between team members and a hospital’s mission and values.
When hospital staff align with a company’s mission and values, they are more likely to enjoy their work, resulting in higher productivity levels and engagement. Research highlights mission-driven workers are 54 percent more likely to stay for five years at a company and 30 percent more likely to grow into high performers.4
An ideal partner will reflect the hospital’s unique culture and mission, and will help further the mission among employees and the community.
5. A reputation of excellence
An experienced partner provides operational and clinical excellence that helps the program stand out. The additional resources and best practices also fosters greater efficiency, leading to less burnout and more flexibility.
A partner with access to resources that aid in employee personal well-being, also helps a hospital become an employer of choice within their community.
The benefit of partnership
Utilizing resources to boost employee engagement, enhance employee skillsets and foster a positive work environment will continue to be a defining factor among hospitals across the nation. One of the factors that sets successful hospitals apart is their choice to partner with an expert.
Through a history of successful joint-venture partnerships and management agreements, we work with leading hospitals to more effectively meet the needs of their patients, produce excellent outcomes and ultimately foster long-term employee satisfaction.
Boston-Fleischhauer, C., & Critchleey, N. (2021, November). 6 hard truths about the nursing shortage the entire C-suite needs to know. Advisory Board. Retrieved February 8, 2022, from https://www.advisory.com/blog/2021/11/nursing-shortage
Sinsky, C. A., Brown, R. L., Stillman, M. J., & Linzer, M. (2021, December 8). Covid-related stress and work intentions in a sample of US Health Care Workers. Mayo Clinic Proceedings: Innovations, Quality & Outcomes. Retrieved March 29, 2022, from https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2542454821001260
Kindred Hospital Rehabilitation Services, May 2, 2022
As financial strain continues to impact hospitals across the country, health leaders are seeking partnership to increase financial stability amid an ever-changing healthcare landscape.
Partnership can help hospitals effectively obtain additional resources to provide high-quality patient care, strengthen service lines and improve access and the overall patient experience.
Read this guide to discover how hospital leaders can overcome today’s unique challenges and make the most of the growing opportunity through joint-venture or contract management rehabilitation partnership – ultimately benefitting your hospital’s financial performance.
With the help of an experienced partner, hospitals can enhance their post-acute strategies in five key ways:
1. Improved Performance Under Value-Based Care
The shift to value-based care has pushed hospitals to reduce spending while improving quality and outcomes. In a study of value-based trends, it was found that more than a third of national reimbursement contracts are now value-based. This percentage has trended upward every year since 2015.1
A post-acute partnership strategy helps equip hospital staff and leadership with the resources to increase care quality and efficiency, make more timely transfers to post-acute settings, reduce readmission risk and generate long-term cost savings for the entire hospital.
2. Increased Care Efficiency to Reduce Rehospitalizations
Rehospitalizations and other transfers in the post-acute continuum can lead to poor patient satisfaction and care quality, ultimately creating negative financial consequences. Research shows that some of the lowest-performing hospitals around the nation can experience readmission penalties two to three times higher than those performing at an average rate.2
Through specialized expertise, access to national resources and data, and a team with a focused ability to recruit and retain top talent, a rehabilitation partner can greatly expand a hospital’s ability to provide excellent patient care in an efficient manner. Further, a rehabilitation partner can help produce faster recovery times, reduce care costs and can create a more positive overall patient experience.
3. Supports Medicare’s “Triple Aim”
Successfully managing all aspects of a rehabilitation unit has become more challenging due to the growing complexity of patients treated, readmission risks and the expansion of value-based care integration. However, if a health system is able to achieve an effective post-acute strategy they can better manage the intricacies of the program.
Rehabilitation partnership supports Medicare’s triple aim, helping to:
- Enhance care. Provide exceptional care to individuals through high-quality programs aimed at improving a patient’s health and independence.
- Improve community health. Experienced partners have access to the latest national trends and resources beyond the data available to individual facilities. This allows local programs to be equipped with best-in-class treatment plans to effectively treat a wider variety of complex conditions.
- Lower care cost. Greater patient access, expertise and quality lead to better outcomes, lower length of stay and lower readmissions. Additionally, facilities are able to more effectively deploy resources and improve operational efficiency, further lowering costs.
An effective partner will also have a well-organized system for efficiently transitioning patients through phases of care. This helps lower per-patient costs, improves regulatory compliance and enables patients requiring specialized care to receive high-quality care.
4. Specialized Care for COVID-19 and Medically Complex Patients
Throughout the pandemic, specialty hospitals have played an invaluable role in the public health response. Research notes that 20 percent of patients recovering from COVID-19 require facility-based rehabilitation.2 This value was shown through the interdisciplinary rehabilitation teams who helped patients recover from severe clinical presentations of COVID-19.
Hospitals that partnered with experts to operate their inpatient rehabilitation program prior to the pandemic were often better prepared to take on the fluctuations in care, including patient volume, recruitment challenges, advanced safety protocols and new therapies for COVID-19 patients.
5. Streamlined Patient Care Path
As stated in the guide, “10 Steps to Optimize Your Rehabilitation Unit,” research notes that rehabilitation therapy services are expected to continue to grow following COVID-19 through 2028. With this expected growth, it is important to evaluate where patients are going to receive rehabilitative care and where there is an opportunity to keep patients within the system.
Expanding post-acute services within the hospital’s care continuum helps the hospital to have more control over outcomes, reduce care transitions and help maintain patient satisfaction throughout the care journey.
How Partnership Can Help with Hospital Financial Performance
Partnering with a focused rehabilitation expert can ease the burden of managing inpatient rehabilitation, increase patient access, and help improve clinical quality and operational efficiency – all of which will ultimately help the hospital achieve greater financial performance.
To learn how partnership can help your hospital reach its strategic goals, visit Kindredrehab.com.
Fary Khan, MBBS, MD, FAFRM (RACP), Bhasker Amatya, DMedSci, MD, MPH, Medical Rehabilitation in Pandemics: Towards a New Perspective, Journal of Rehabilitation Medicine, Vol. 52, Issue 4, April 9, 2020
Kindred Hospital Rehabilitation Services, October 4, 2021
As the medical complexity of patients continues to increase, it is important for providers to be flexible in their ability to respond to current and future patient needs.
But flexibility isn’t just important in an immediate crisis— it’s something healthcare leaders should be thinking about amid a rapidly changing healthcare landscape, as patient preferences and reimbursement continue to shift.
This article offers insights into co-location, a market expansion model that allows health systems to be more agile in their ability to respond to shifting needs.
To effectively prepare for the future, health systems should consider co-locating a variety of services on their hospital campuses beyond short-term acute care, including rehabilitation, long-term acute care, and behavioral health, and allow for beds to be designated flexibly across these services.
The Case for Co-location
Advances in medicine and growth in life expectancy have led to an increase in the complexity of cases in health systems throughout the country. “Health systems are going to have to be able to provide very specialized care, all within their continuum, to support medically complex patients and make sure they have the best possible outcomes,” said Benjamin Breier, Kindred Healthcare CEO.
While the pandemic has empowered leaders to break down barriers to innovation, it also has brought on a looming behavioral health crisis. Public health experts said in a British Medical Journal blog that they believe “the mental health impact of the pandemic is likely to last much longer than the physical health impact.”
Finally, a wave of consumerism across healthcare settings is requiring health systems to exert more influence over the patient experience across the care continuum. Consumers have access to more information about healthcare organizations than ever before and are increasingly doing their own research to determine the best setting of care for themselves and their loved ones. Breier believes this is ultimately driving patients to choose a post-acute care option that allows them to go home as quickly and safely as possible.
“Health systems across the country are being forced to quickly adapt and respond to rapidly changing patient needs, all while maintaining financial stability and high-quality outcomes. Co-locating multiple services on a single campus and offering these specialty services within a system’s continuum opens the door to more high-quality programs that have a positive impact on the health system,” said Breier.
How co-location and bed flexibility benefit patient and population health:
1. Ease of Access
Patients who require high-intensity rehabilitation services in a hospital with co-located services are able to transition to a new, focused care setting located on the same campus, eliminating the need to transfer elsewhere. Transfers between facilities not only can be high-risk and challenging from a medical perspective, but are also inconvenient for patients.
2. Continued Specialized Care and Differentiation From Post-Acute Competition
By co-locating specialized services on-site and integrating an interdisciplinary rehabilitation program into their campus, leaders enable daily access to a physician that specializes in rehabilitation and helps to ensure 24-hour RN coverage of patients in their care. When combined with a long-term acute care hospital (LTACH), specialty physicians can also be promptly available if requested for patient needs.
3. Shortening Length of Stay
Intensive rehabilitation care within an acute rehabilitation unit (ARU) can reduce length of stay, and be more cost-effective when compared to other post-acute settings. It also can reduce readmissions—a key indicator under value-based reimbursement. Patients who receive care in an ARU are significantly more likely to return to the community instead of back to an acute-care hospital.
4. Resolving Gaps in Inpatient Behavioral Health
Behavioral health inpatient beds are at an all-time low, and demand is incredibly high. This model offers significant financial incentives to take on inpatient behavioral health beds. Co-locating more behavioral health beds on a health system’s campus helps get patients out of the Emergency Department faster, frees up medical-surgical capacity and gets patients the specialized care they need.
Specialty Hospital Partnership Solutions
Kindred partners with health systems to develop co-location and specialty service strategies that meet the specific patient needs and opportunities in the communities they serve.
“Kindred is unique in that we provide flexible service line offerings, such as LTACHs with specialized acute rehabilitation units or dedicated behavioral health units,” Breier said. “We work with the partners to determine the best solution to meet the needs in their community—whether it’s a specialized unit, a hospital within a hospital or working together to build a new free-standing hospital.” To learn more about the benefits of co-location, visit kindredrehab.com
Kindred Hospital Rehabilitation Services, October 1, 2021
As the number of patients with medical complexities continues to increase, acute agility is a key strategy to help meet growing patient needs amid a rapidly changing healthcare landscape.
Hospital leaders should consider co-locating a variety of services on their hospital campuses beyond short-term acute care, including rehabilitation, long-term acute care and behavioral health.
In this Q&A, hear from Kindred Healthcare CEO Benjamin A. Breier as he offers insights into market expansion strategies that can help hospitals meet the evolving needs of their communities.
How does healthcare consumerism play into the need to co-locate more services on a single hospital campus?
Breier: Now more than ever, patients have extremely high expectations. They understand the difference in care settings and want to know that they or their loved one is getting the best possible care.
Co-location and offering specialty care within your system’s care continuum helps meet these expectations by reducing care transitions, keeping patients within your health system and providing patients with the appropriate specialty care they need to reach a full recovery. All of this increases patient satisfaction, preference and loyalty - ultimately leading to improved outcomes.
How does co-location of specialty services benefit the hospital’s performance overall?
Breier: When patients leave the hospital and are placed in the care of other organizations, the hospital loses control over their care and ultimately has little influence over whether the patient is readmitted, a key metric by which providers are judged, especially under emerging value-based reimbursement models. Health systems that co-locate more of the continuum on their campus stand a better chance of avoiding these negative outcomes while capturing post-acute revenue.
Financials are not and should not be the driving force behind how we care for patients, but our ability to be reimbursed and manage costs is, in many ways, paramount. If you have coordinated, specialized care that’s creating better outcomes and better financial results, that’s a win in either paradigm. However, as managed care and other value-based reimbursement become a bigger part of the equation, it will be even more important to provide care that makes the most of the limited funds we’re given.
How does the co-location model benefit hospital staffing issues?
Breier: Healthcare staffing is one of the biggest challenges for providers. By offering high-quality post-acute services within one campus, health systems have greater access to resources and specialized expertise, including hospital-level infection control and physician oversight.
Additionally, having all of the necessary resources in one set- ting can alleviate potential staffing strains. Co-locating training, education and programming on one campus can generate and create a unified interdisciplinary team approach – leading to higher employee retention and satisfaction.
What advice do you have for hospital leaders who may not have the physical space to co-locate more services on a single campus?
Breier: Even if you don’t think you have the current space available, co-location could still be an option. By re-evaluating your system’s current offerings, you may be able to identify opportunities to adjust services or optimize programs to better meet patient needs.
There is also opportunity in investing in a new building to specifically house multiple services. For all the reasons we’ve talked about, there is greater efficiency and cost savings. To achieve this, many health systems are leveraging strategic partnerships to help support focused expertise – opening the door to greater bed capacity, ability to share clinical staffing and more opportunities for combined education and training.
Through a history of successful joint ventures and management agreements, Kindred partners with health systems to develop co-location and specialty service strategies that meet the specific patient needs and opportunities in local communities.
To learn how Kindred can help your health system, visitkindredrehab.com
Kindred Hospital Rehabilitation Services, May 27, 2021
Inpatient rehabilitation programs are confronting more challenges than ever as they enter year two of the pandemic, including sicker patients, extreme regulatory fluctuations, and out-of-control denial rates, all of which require dedicated focus and expertise.
Laird Smithson, SVP and Chief Operating Officer for Kindred Hospital Rehabilitation Services, explores these obstacles, key strategies to overcome them, and the benefits of having a dedicated rehabilitation partner through a joint-venture or acute rehabilitation management.
Q: What are the biggest challenges hospitals and health systems experience with inpatient rehabilitation, and how can they overcome them?
Smithson: The healthcare landscape has never been so tough for providers who run acute rehabilitation programs. Their biggest challenge is driving high-quality outcomes for medically complex patient populations, including those recovering from COVID-19. They are implementing numerous strategies, including enhanced infection control procedures and protocols, new rehabilitation technology for faster recovery, along with specialized education and training to help rehabilitation programs quickly adapt to meet the needs of this new patient population.
At the same time, regulatory compliance oversight is becoming more difficult as rehabilitation programs face increased scrutiny and high denial rates from commercial and public payers, which now deny about one in every 10 submitted claims, according to the Advisory Board. Regulatory compliance requires constant attention, making it all the more important to partner with appeals and denials experts who can improve documentation accuracy and reduce denial rates. Additionally, with continually fluctuating regulations and increasing denial rates, it is critical to streamline patient throughput processes. Organizations are increasingly turning to highly trained clinical liaisons and innovative technologies to help quickly identify the right patients for rehabilitation admission.
Q: What are some benefits of inpatient rehabilitation partnerships?
Smithson: The current strain on America’s health system has led many healthcare providers to partner with dedicated rehabilitation experts. A joint-venture or acute rehabilitation management often results in significant quality improvement, cost savings and optimization for this high-demand service line. In fact, a Deloitte study shows health systems prefer partnerships because they lower post-acute expenditures; enhance overall performance while minimizing up-front costs; increase patient access and employee retention; and offer greater scale and speed to market.
Q: What should hospitals look for in a rehabilitation partner?
Smithson: While the benefits of partnership are clear, not all joint venture or acute rehabilitation management partners are created equal. When evaluating a suitable partner, look for the key qualities that drive long-term success. A prospective partner should have deep experience helping its partners demonstrate clinical effectiveness with reduced readmission rates and better patient outcomes. They must have a proven track record helping their partners adapt to big challenges such as COVID-19, a robust network of medical directors, and a well-organized patient throughput system. A potential partner must also have strong denials and regulatory expertise to stay ahead of the denial trends. For example, denials have recently shifted from orthopedic admissions to shorter stays and 40% of admissions, including nonsurgical admissions such a pelvic fractures, UTI, GI, and metabolic diagnoses. The right partner will have forward thinking technology and a dedicated appeals and denials team.
Q: How do you measure success?
Smithson: At Kindred, we specialize our services to each partner’s unique needs and then measure how we are performing. In addition to our own rigorous set of quality and satisfaction measures, we also partner with a third party, Net Promoter Score™ (NPS). Kindred uses NPS as a key indicator of our ability to deliver on the promises we make to our partners and ultimately patients. In 2020, Kindred reached a “World Class” score, exceeding client experience trailblazers such as Costco and Ritz-Carlton. During the pandemic, there were endless examples of how Kindred’s real-time access to national data and trends enabled us to react quickly to an environment that was changing by the minute and help programs recover faster while maintaining excellent clinical quality.
Kindred Hospital Rehabilitation Services, April 1, 2021
Hospital-based rehabilitation programs are expecting to see a major influx of medically complex patients, including those with neurological conditions, in the coming decades.
However, COVID-19 has further spurred the drastic increase and caused an immediate rise in medically complex patients with multiple comorbidities.
For example, stroke prevalence is expected to rise 21% by 2030, and more than 1.2 million citizens are projected to have Parkinson’s disease.1,2 Moreover, patients experiencing prolonged symptoms of COVID-19 are expected to face additional medical complexities and disabilities.3
This leaves hospital leaders with a significant question: What can be done to care for the current and future medically complex patient population, especially in a hospital rehabilitation setting?
In this whitepaper, we’ll examine three areas that drive the greatest impact on treating medically complex patients:
Clinical staff
Tech innovation
Patient and family member experience
1. Getting Your Staff Prepared Clinically
Many rehabilitation programs make the mistake of trying to serve this new medically complex patient population with the same staffing model that they have used in the past. Positions that are particularly important for treating medically complex patients are:
- Rehabilitation-Experienced Nurses
Rehabilitation-experienced nurses are trained to help patients with disabilities and chronic illnesses achieve maximum functional improvements. Additionally, recent research uncovered that individuals discharged after experiencing severe cases of COVID-19 significantly benefited from multi-disciplinary inpatient rehabilitation.4
- Speech and Language Pathologists
Speech and language pathologists play an important role in helping patients reach optimal functionality. For instance, receiving speech therapy early in the rehabilitation process is most effective at treating aphasia, which is present in up to 38% of stroke patients.5
- Clinical Liaisons and Certifications
Highly-trained clinical liaisons are needed to achieve optimal timing of rehabilitation entry. CARF and Joint Commission certifications improve the comprehensiveness of patient treatment and the range of patients a program may treat, as well as support improved program performance. On average, CARF accredited programs experience a 26% increase in annual patients served.6
- Infection Control Specialists
A dedicated infection control specialist or team can help obtain standards such as certifications set forth by federal programs and agencies, appropriate staffing, employee protection, patient safety and clinical expertise.
2. Adapting Through Tech Innovation
The usage of telehealth technology has rapidly increased since the beginning of COVID-19, with baby boomers accounting for the greatest portion of new users. There has been an overall increase of 155% - jumping from 9% pre-pandemic to 23%.7
By embracing new technologies, rehabilitation programs and their patients can achieve greater levels of success while increasing patient satisfaction.
Upgrades to Develop Best-in-Industry Brain Care
Technology is vital to developing leading rehabilitation programs that stand out within the market and deliver the best outcomes. Robotics are among the tools making the biggest impact for the rapidly changing patient population.
For instance, BIONIK InMotion robots physically guide brain injury patients through tasks by supporting their arms.8 As patients progress, the robots decrease their levels of physical support, thereby adapting to patient capabilities. BIONIK robots are effective for treating patients who have suffered strokes, cerebral palsy, multiple sclerosis, Parkinson’s disease and other neurological conditions.
3. Patient and Family Member Experience
In addition to clinical expertise, innovative technology and top-rated rehabilitation programing, support from hospital staff throughout a patient’s care journey is just as critical for patient outcomes and family involvement.
The Importance of Follow-Up Calls to Improve Outcomes
Working follow-up calls into standard discharge procedure can produce optimal outcomes for both patients and rehabilitation programs. For instance, brain injury patients who receive follow-up calls are more likely to consistently take medication. They are also more likely to attend clinic visits, which correlates with reduced readmission risk.1 Follow-up calls give patients and their caregivers the opportunity to ask questions and resolve any misunderstandings.
Supporting the Adult Child Caregiver
For many medically complex patients, an adult child takes on the role of caregiver. Initiatives to support the caregiver can help rehabilitation programs reduce readmissions and improve patient outcomes.
There are a variety of initiatives that can be used to support caregivers:9
• Transitional Support
• Educational Materials
• Case Managers
• Peer Support Groups
• Mobile App Technology
By developing rehabilitation-specific expertise around key areas including staffing, patient and caregiver experience and tech innovation, coupled with a flexible care model that allows a hospital to shift their services offered to benefit each patient’s needs,10 rehabilitation programs can reach new levels of success.
Read Kindred Hospital Rehabilitation Service’s whitepaper to learn how Kindred can help your rehabilitation program adapt to the changing patient population or visit www.kindredrehab.com.
Kindred Hospital Rehabilitation Services, February 25, 2021
Ensuring patients receive the right level of care at the right time in their care journey is especially critical in today’s environment.
However, it’s important to note that not all post-acute settings are created equal, as recently acknowledged by the American Hospital Association1. Since each setting is designed for a unique patient population, it is vital to understand their key differences and the impact on patient recovery.
Read this guide to learn about the key differences between the levels of post-acute care, the unique benefits of inpatient rehabilitation in treating patients recovering from COVID-19 as well as other medically complex conditions, and the opportunity to optimize your rehab program or start a new program.
The impact of COVID-19 has challenged all healthcare providers and will continue to do so for years to come2. By quickly adapting and incorporating new techniques to successfully treat the entire patient population – especially those recovering from COVID-19 – hospitals can ensure the highest quality outcomes across the care continuum.
The Unique Benefits of Acute Inpatient Rehabilitation
According to the American Hospital Association, “The pandemic has highlighted the uneven patient care abilities across the four PAC settings, with regard to physician leadership and oversight, the contributions of other specialists and clinicians, infection control reliability, and patient outcomes.” Each setting has value but is designed for specific and different patient types. This delta has the greatest consequence for medically complex patients and those recovering from COVID-191.
Additionally, “Early rehabilitation of COVID-19 patients can enhance pulmonary, respiratory function, reduce complications, improve function, cognitive impairments and quality of life,”3 according to a recent Journal of Rehabilitation Medicine study.
Inpatient rehabilitation offers a variety of resources and programs that help hospitals deliver quality care, reduce readmissions and improve overall facility operations. These include:
• Employing specially-trained registered nurses who are fully equipped to treat patients with various care needs
• Hospital-level infection control measures
• Daily physician oversight and a multidisciplinary therapy team providing daily therapy tailored to each patient
By increasing patient access to inpatient rehabilitation, hospitals are better able to deliver high-quality outcomes in a safe environment.
This focus on quality is evident in that acute inpatient rehabilitation units treat sicker patients yet produce better outcomes than other post-acute care settings4. Recent studies found that while treating a more complex patient population, inpatient rehabilitation operations maintain a higher discharge to the community rate of 70%, which is 37% higher than SNFs on average. The care provided in the inpatient rehabilitation setting continues to benefit patients even after discharge as they experience a lower rate of potentially avoidable hospital readmissions of 4.3% compared to 22% of SNF patients who were re-hospitalized after admission4.
Key Benefits of Acute Inpatient Rehabilitation and What Sets It Apart From Other Care Settings
Inpatient rehabilitation facilities and acute rehabilitation units offer a variety of benefits to the ever-growing patient population – many qualities other care settings do not provide. These include:
• Certification as acute care hospitals and licensed as freestanding inpatient rehabilitation hospitals or distinct rehabilitation units within a host hospital
• Daily physician visits
• Specialized training in rehab nursing; provide 24-hour nursing care; intervention, assessment, monitoring of: VS, IVFs/antibiotics, ostomy, catheter, trach, NG care; routine labs and diagnostics and respiratory equipment
• PT/OT/ST available with a patient willing and able to participate in therapy three hours a day, five days a week, or 15 hours over seven days. Requires the services of at least two therapy disciplines. Level of rehab services provided in acute rehab is more intense than other levels of post-acute care
• Interdisciplinary approach between physician, therapy team, and nursing to facilitate recovery. Physician-led weekly team conferences required
• Services on site: pharmacy, lab, radiology
• Continuous patient check-ups to ensure a patient’s functional prognosis is aligned with the goal that they will return to home or a community-based setting
Importance of Partnerships in Post-Acute Recovery
Strong coordination between an acute episode and the next level of care is more important than ever because of the unique and positive role rehabilitation units play in treating patients recovering from COVID-193.
Many hospitals are partnering with Kindred Hospital Rehabilitation Services (KHRS) as their rehabilitation expert to help them optimize their rehabilitation unit and relieve the burden of self-management. KHRS’ decades of experience and national footprint has enabled hospital partner facilities to experience a faster rebound with greater agility compared to self-operating facilities, while improving quality outcomes and delivering greater patient access.
Kindred Hospital Rehabilitation Services works with more than 300 hospital-based programs nationwide to provide clinical expertise, excellent outcomes and operational efficiency. kindredrehab.com
References:
1. Nickels, T. (2020, June 24). AHA Letter on Resetting the IMPACT Act in Next COVID-19 Relief Package: AHA. Retrieved June 29, 2020, from https:// www.aha.org/lettercomment/2020-06-24-aha-letter-resetting-impact-act-next-covid-19-relief-package
2. Wade, D. T. (2020, June 09). Rehabilitation after COVID-19: An evidence-based approach [PDF]. Clinical Medicine.
3. Fary Khan, MBBS, MD, FAFRM (RACP), Bhasker Amatya, DMedSci, MD, MPH, “Medical Rehabilitation in Pandemics: Towards a New Perspective,” Journal of Rehabilitative Management, Vol. 52, Issue 4, April 9, 2020
