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, January 29, 2021
In today’s challenging healthcare environment, many hospitals are finding greater financial and clinical success through rehabilitation partnerships.
Support through a rehabilitation joint venture or acute management partner can result in quality improvement, cost savings and high-demand service line optimization. While the healthcare landscape has never been more challenging, this is a time of great opportunity.
Other reasons partnership is preferred by post-acute providers include:
Improved Patient Experience
Reduced Capital Expenditure
Scalability
Speed to Market
Ability to Focus on Core Competencies
To help ensure these advantages are achieved, a suitable rehab partner must possess qualities that will produce successful outcomes for the facility, staff and most importantly, its patients. When evaluating a potential partner, the following five qualities are key indicators of success.
1. Clinical and Quality Effectiveness: Providers should look for partners who have experience helping programs achieve top quality certifications while demonstrating clinical effectiveness through reduced readmission rates and better patient outcomes.
2. Proven Track Record in Quickly Adapting to Industry Challenges and Optimizing Performance Based on Need: Suitable partners have already achieved impressive results for other healthcare providers, including helping them rebound faster from COVID-19 than the industry as a whole. A partner should also have access to national rehab data and best practices.
3. Robust Network of Medical Directors: Rehab programs are being impacted by the growing talent shortage, making strong medical directors a key component to any successful program – however, they’re often hard to identify and retain without the right partner.
4. Patient Throughput Management: An effective partner should have a well-organized system for efficiently moving patients through the care continuum. Careful management ensures that patients enter rehab at the right time in their care journey and stay for the appropriate amount of time – reducing readmission rates, lowering per-patient costs and increasing patient satisfaction.
5. Expert Regulatory and Compliance Team: The current changing regulatory environment makes it challenging to assure compliance. An ideal partner includes a highly competent regulatory and compliance team specialized in rehab.
Finding the Right Partner: Key Questions to Ask
Further assess the quality of a potential partner by asking targeted questions:
- How are you able to quickly adapt to the changing healthcare environment?
They should have access to national rehab data from hospitals, hold a proven track record of helping partners succeed through times of adversity all while continuing to provide clinical and operational excellence.
- What are your quality metrics?
A partner that gets results has an evaluation system that goes beyond the minimal government requirements and that assesses the most important performance benchmarks, such as changes in CMI, and discharge-to-community rates.
- What do you do to decrease patient readmission risks?
To effectively minimize readmissions, candidates should have a clear and proven system for maximizing patient readiness for discharge.
- How do you drive clinical efficiency?
Their answer should list practical actions that have a measurable effect on clinical efficiency and infection control.
- What is your denial rate?
Denials are on the rise and lead to significant expenses for providers. Ideal partners utilize thorough compliance and a successful claim appeal process to obtain a low denial rate.
- Do you utilize technology that can flag regulatory issues before they become larger problems?
Implementing flagging software can minimize resources devoted to resolving regulatory problems.
- How do you promote patient advocacy and improve access to care?
Highly-trained clinical liaisons should be prominent figures in partner plans for enhancing both patient access and engagement. Additionally, the right partner will implement the latest best practices to ensure patients in need of inpatient rehab receive care in a safe environment.
- How do you promote provider retention and engagement?
Optimizing retention is critical, as close to half of disengaged employees plan to leave their jobs within a year. Partners should place special focus on training and career development opportunities where hospital employees report lowest satisfaction rates. To combat the critical provider shortage, partners should have access to a strong network of physicians, therapists and nurses.
- Do you utilize technology for improving both provider and patient engagement?
The latest technologies should be used to enhance engagement among physicians, therapists and the patients themselves. Additionally, tech solutions should be leveraged to enhance communication between patients and family members, especially when family is separated by distance or visitor restrictions.
Kindred Hospital Rehabilitation Services works with more than 300 hospital-based programs nationwide to provide clinical expertise, excellent outcomes and operational efficiency. kindredrehab.com
Kindred Hospital Rehabilitation Services, December 10, 2020
Twenty percent of patients recovering from COVID-19 will require facility-based rehab, according to a study in the Journal of Rehabilitation Medicine.(1)
Further, the study underscored that inpatient rehab plays a unique and positive role in treating patients recovering from COVID-19. Discover key strategies hospitals can use to improve outcomes through rehabilitation for patients recovering from COVID-19.
Importance of Rehab for Patients Recovering from COVID-19
At least 700,000 Americans recovering from COVID-19 will require inpatient rehabilitative care.(2) After just three days in the ICU, patients may lose up to 9% of muscle mass, while some reports indicate that brain scans of COVID-19 patients may resemble that of a traumatic brain injury.
This may leave a patient too weak to participate in three hours of therapy per day. To combat this issue, temporary regulatory changes, such as the waiving of the three-hour rule and preauthorization requirements, will lead to an influx of Medicare beneficiaries who qualify for and will benefit from inpatient rehab.
Benefits of Partnerships in Post-Acute COVID-19 Recovery
Strong partnerships between short-term acute care hospitals and post-acute providers are more important than ever. Two of the key benefits include:
1. Overflow relief, increased patient access, and utilization of rehab for COVID-19 patient recovery.
2. Support in making clinically appropriate decisions for patient rehabilitative care.
Outsourcing rehab management services to a trusted partner allows hospitals to stay focused on managing their core service lines while relying on an expert to relieve the burden of running rehab, ensuring clinical excellence, maintaining regulatory compliance and helping patients return home safely.
Case Study: Partnership Key to Success Through COVID-19
Kindred Hospital Rehab Services (KHRS) has found that the integration of rehabilitation through partnerships has positively impacted patient outcomes and helped hospitals gain capacity as a result of transferring recovering patients to a more appropriate level of care.
During one month of the pandemic in 2020:
> KHRS partner hospital acute census fell 35% during COVID-19, while KHRS-run acute rehab unit’s (ARU) census dropped 16%
> KHRS-run ARU census was 12% of acute census pre-COVID-19, and increased to 17%
According to the findings, KHRS partners benefited from greater patient access through KHRS’s clinical knowledge and access to best practices from a wealth of outcomes data; increased patient engagement and motivation, and improved administrative and operational processes through intuitive technology; and relief from the burden of running rehab through deep rehab expertise and 30+ years of experience.
KHRS partner hospital rehab programs continue to take sicker patients, while maintaining the highest clinical and quality standards. Learn how KHRS can help your hospital provide the best possible care for patients recovering from COVID-19: www.kindredrehab.com.
References 1. Fary Khan, MBBS, MD, FAFRM (RACP), Bhasker Amatya, DMedSci, MD, MPH, Medical Rehabilitation in Pandemics: Towards a New Perspective, Journal of Rehabilitative Medicine, Vol. 52, Issue 4, April 9, 2020
2. How Will We Care For Coronavirus Patients After They Leave The Hospital? By Building Postacute Care Surge Capacity, Health Affairs Blog, April 13, 2020. DOI: 10.1377/hblog20200408.641535
Kindred Hospital Rehabilitation Services, June 3, 2020
This article outlines how post-acute care partners can help reduce readmission rates through patient-friendly care transitions and the application of rehabilitation therapies. This provides hospitals the assurance of positive patient transitions and strong clinical outcomes.
While hospitals have focused on reducing readmission rates for the better part of a decade, 83% will face readmissions penalties in fiscal year 2020, according to a recent Kaiser Health News (KHN) analysis.1 Penalties cost hospitals more than half a billion dollars annually. One key, and often overlooked, strategy that can help hospitals reduce readmission rates is to have strong post-acute care partners.
Post-acute care partners help reduce readmission rates through patient-friendly care transitions and the application of rehabilitation therapies. In fact, an Issue Brief from the Kaiser Family Foundation cited coordinating with post-acute care providers as one of the key ways for hospitals to reduce readmissions. 2
Effective transitions, however, are more easily said than done. Not all hospitals have care coordinators on hand to guide this crucial step, and those that do often lack control of patient behavior and care delivered post-discharge. Studies demonstrate that approximately 80% of serious medical errors involve miscommunication during the hand-off between medical providers. 3
With a strategy that includes quality-driven inpatient rehabilitation, hospitals can reduce their readmission rates with the assurance of positive patient transitions and strong clinical outcomes.
Barriers to Reducing Readmissions
According to a study published in the Summer 2019 issue of Perspectives in Health Information Management, the biggest barriers to reducing readmissions are:
Poor transitions between care settings
Health illiteracy/discharge education
Patient socioeconomic factors4
Hospitals must address these challenges to move the needle on readmission rates. The good news is they are not insurmountable. In fact, high-quality rehabilitation provided by a trusted post-acute partner can be a valuable solution that helps hospitals overcome each of these three barriers.
Rehabilitation Therapies Help to Reduce Readmissions
Inpatient programs in particular are highly effective in these areas, most notably having a positive impact on preventable readmissions. A study published in PM&R found that only 3.5% of acute care readmissions during an inpatient rehabilitation stay were classified as potentially avoidable. 5 This sets inpatient rehabilitation apart from other post-acute settings. Preventable readmissions among the larger population of acute care patients are in the double digits.6
Rehabilitation is so effective because it helps patients improve their functional abilities and successfully transition from the hospital to home. Research published in the Journal of the American Medical Directors Association that reviewed more than 4 million inpatient rehabilitation cases across 16 impairment groups found that functional status was a greater predictor of hospital readmissions than comorbidities.7
Furthermore, according to a study published in JAMA Internal Medicine, impairment seems to correlate to readmission rates, particularly in patients admitted for heart failure, myocardial infarction or pneumonia. The readmission rate for patients who were discharged with no impairments was 16.9% whereas patients who had difficulty with three or more activities of daily living had a readmission rate of 25.7%.8
The Value of Post-Acute Rehabilitation in an Acute Hospital
The value of rehabilitation therapies in improving patient recovery and reducing preventable readmissions is clear, and hospitals have the ability to harness this power. Hospital-based inpatient rehabilitation programs deliver the intensive, interdisciplinary clinical and rehabilitation services necessary for improved function and independence. They enable hospitals to extend their reach and have a positive, ongoing impact on patient care, manage care transitions and improve overall communications – all of which help reduce barriers to reducing readmissions.
In addition, by optimizing the post-acute rehabilitation services provided and expanding access to more patients who can benefit from this intense level of services, facilities can reduce chances of readmissions, keep patients within the health system longer, and ultimately help patients reach their recovery goals faster and drive greater patient satisfaction.
How Kindred Can Help
As the largest contract manager of hospital-based acute rehabilitation programs in the nation, KHRS removes the barriers of running an effective and efficient rehabilitation unit and helps hospitals reach new levels of operational and clinical success. For more strategies on how to reduce readmission rates or how KHRS can bring you greater success, visit www.kindredrehab.com.
References
1. Kaiser Health News: https://khn.org/news/hospital-readmission-penalties-medicare-2583-hospitals/
2. Boccuti, C., Casillas, G. Aiming for Fewer Hospital U-turns: The Medicare Hospital Readmission Reduction Program. Kaiser Family Foundation. 29 Jan 2015. http://kff.org/medicare/issue-brief/aiming-for-fewer-hospital-u-turns-themedicare-hospital-readmission-reduction-program 3. Solet DJ, et al: Lost in translation: challenges and opportunities in physician-to-physician communication during patienthand-offs. Academic Medicine, 2005;80:1094-9 4. Warchol et al. Strategies to Reduce Hospital Readmission Rates in a Non-Medicaid-Expansion State. Perspectives inHealth Information Management. Summer 2019. https://perspectives.ahima.org/strategies-to-reduce-hospitalreadmission-rates-in-a-non-medicaid-expansion-state/ 5. Middleton et al. Potentially preventable within stay readmissions among Medicare fee-for-service beneficiaries receiving inpatient rehabilitation. PM R 2017 Nov. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5670018/ 6. Burke et al. The HOSPITAL score predicts potentially preventable 30-day readmissions in conditions targeted by the Hospital Readmissions Reduction Program. Med Care. 2017 Mar. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5309170/ 7. Shih et al. Functional Status Outperforms Comorbidities as a Predictor of 30-Day Acute Care Readmissions in the Inpatient Rehabilitation Population. J Am Med Dir Assoc. 2016 Oct. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/27424092 8. Greysen et al. Functional impairment and hospital readmissions in Medicare seniors. JAMA Internal Medicine. 2015 Apr. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/25642907
Kindred Hospital Rehabilitation Services, September 18, 2019
Many healthcare providers partner with dedicated rehabilitation partners because a third-party team of rehab experts can often help rehab programs reach higher levels of performance. There are a number of advantages to using a rehabilitation partner, and several key qualities to look for in a partner to ensure your program’s long-term success.
This article outlines advantages of rehab partners, key qualities to look for in a partner, and essential questions to ask a potential partner.
The Advantages of Using a Rehab Partner
According to a recent survey by Deloitte, healthcare executives find rehab partnerships preferable due to:
Improved patient experience and enhanced overall performance with fewer in-house resources, as partners take on much of the responsibility for program infrastructure, allowing providers to maximize their program value at minimal investment.
Increased patient access and improved employee retention.
Greater scale and speed to market.
Lower post-acute expenditures, as effective partners reduce several critical cost factors, including emergency room visits, stay lengths, readmissions and claim denials.
Top 5 Qualities That Make a Great Acute Rehab Partner
While the benefits are clear, not all partners are created equal. When evaluating a potential partner, consider the following five qualities.
1. Clinical and Quality Effectiveness
Providers should look for partners experienced in attaining top quality certifications – such as CARF and The Joint Commission – that make a program stand out and increase its number of patients. The partner’s clinical acumen should result in reduced readmission rates and improved patient outcomes.
2. Proven Track Record in Optimizing Performance
Suitable partners already produce impressive results for other healthcare providers. This performance record demonstrates that the partner can achieve measurable gains that translate into higher program quality and efficiency.
3. Robust Network of Medical Directors
Strong medical directors are essential to successful rehab programs, but hard to identify and retain. Partners must have a strong network of medical directors who are focused on provider engagement.
4. Patient Throughput Management
An effective partner should have a proven system to efficiently move patients through phases of care. Proper care management ensures that patients enter rehab when they need it and stay as appropriate, which in turn reduces readmission rates, lowers per-patient costs and increases patient satisfaction.
5. Expert Regulatory and Compliance Team
Ever-changing regulations challenge compliance efforts. An ideal partner features a skilled regulatory and compliance team specialized in rehab who keeps abreast of changes, prepares for regulation expansions, and navigates the system to reduce denials.
Find Your Ideal Rehab Partner: Key Questions to Ask
You can assess the quality of a potential partner by asking these questions:
What are your quality metrics?
A partner that gets results has an evaluation system that goes beyond minimal government requirements and assesses the most important performance benchmarks, such as changes in FIM and PEM, and discharge-to-community rates.
What do you do to decrease patient readmission risks?
To minimize readmissions, candidates should have a clear and proven system for maximizing patient readiness for discharge.
How do you drive clinical efficiency?
Their answer should list practical actions that have a measurable effect on clinical efficiency.
What is your denial rate?
Denials add up to significant expenses for providers. Ideal partners utilize thorough compliance and a successful claim appeal process to obtain a low denial rate.
Do you utilize technology that can flag regulatory issues before they become larger problems?
Flagging software can minimize resources devoted to resolving regulatory problems.
How do you promote patient advocacy and improve access to care?
Highly-trained clinical liaisons should be prominent figures in partner plans for enhancing both patient access and engagement.
How do you drive patient engagement?
Patient engagement is essential to driving better outcomes, so ask partners about their solutions for improving patient knowledge, engagement and motivation.
How do you promote provider retention and engagement?
Retention is critical, as close to half of disengaged employees plan to leave their jobs within a year. Partners should have access to a strong network of physicians, therapists and nurses and place special focus on training and career development opportunities.
Do you utilize technology for improving both provider and patient engagement?
The latest technologies can enhance engagement among physicians, therapists and the patients themselves.
The right partner can help you boost program performance and scale. Kindred Hospital Rehabilitation Services (KHRS) serves over 150 hospital-based rehab programs, optimizing program features ranging from outcomes to staffing to compliance to claims appeals. To learn how KHRS can partner to improve your rehab program, visit kindredrehab.com.
Kindred Hospital Rehabilitation Services, July 15, 2019
Spurred by an aging population, rehab programs will experience a major influx of patients with medically complex patients in the coming years. By 2030, for instance, stroke prevalence is expected to rise 21% and more than 1.2 million citizens are projected to have Parkinson’s disease.1,2
This poses a significant challenge to rehab leaders – how do you best prepare for the increase of medically complex patients? This article examines three areas where your rehab program can evolve to best treat medically complex patients: clinical staff, technological innovation and patient and family-member experience.
Getting Clinically Prepared: Staff
A mistake rehab programs make is serving this new medically complex patient population with the same staffing model used in the past. Not optimizing staff for the new patient demographic can lead to operational inefficiencies and subpar outcomes. Certain roles are particularly important for treating medically complex patients.
Rehab-Certified Nurses
Rehab-certified nurses, unlike standard medical nurses, are trained to help patients with disabilities and chronic illnesses achieve functional improvements. They understand the treatments and systems used specifically in rehab environments, expertise that translates to faster recovery and more efficient programs.
Speech Therapists
Speech therapists play an important role in helping patients reach optimal functionality. For instance, receiving speech therapy early in the rehab process is most effective at treating aphasia, which is present in up to 38% of stroke patients.3
Clinical Liaisons
Clinical liaisons work with patients and their caregivers to help establish if a patient is the right fit for rehab and to ensure continuity of care. Highly trained clinical liaisons are needed to achieve optimal timing for a patient’s entry into rehab -- a key part of a program’s efficacy is providing the right level of care at the right time.
Adapting Through Tech Innovation
By embracing new technologies, rehab programs and their patients can reach new levels of performance.
Upgrades to Develop Best-in-Industry Brain Care Centers
New technology is vital to developing leading rehab programs that stand out within the market and deliver the best outcomes. Robotics are among the tools making the biggest impact for this changing patient population.
For instance, BIONIK InMotion robots physically guide brain injury patients through tasks by supporting their arms4 and are especially effective for treating patients who have suffered strokes, cerebral palsy, Parkinson’s disease and other neurological conditions. Similarly, robotic exoskeletons like the EksoGT can speed recovery and functionality, especially for patients relearning to walk.
Positioning Patients for Positive Outcomes
Integrating follow-up calls and caregiver resources into standard discharge procedures helps to deliver optimal outcomes for patients and rehab programs. Brain injury patients who receive follow-up calls have better medication persistence rates and are more likely to attend clinic visits, which correlates with reduced readmission risk.1
Follow-up calls allow patients and their caregivers to ask questions and dispel misunderstandings. Nurses can review medications, repeat instructions, address new problems and confirm appointments.
Supporting the Adult Child Caregiver
Many medically complex patients have an adult child as a caregiver. Resources that support the caregiver help reduce readmissions and improve patient outcomes. Examples of such resources5 include:
Transitional Support to prepare the caregiver as the patient transitions to in-home care;
Educational Materials that address the patient’s care journey;
Case Managers who serve as the caregiver’s contact person;
Peer Support Groups to help caregivers find emotional support and learn relevant coping skills; and
Mobile App Technology that allows patients and families to set goals, track progress and share updates, which improves rehab engagement and outcomes.
Developing rehab-specific expertise around staffing, tech innovation, and patient- and caregiver-experience can lead rehab programs to new levels of success.
Optimizing Your Program
As the largest provider of rehab therapy in the country, Kindred Hospital Rehabilitation Services leverages its deep clinical expertise, extensive rehab data, and innovative technology to help rehab programs across the country achieve clinical and operational success. To learn how KHRS can help your rehab program best prepare for the changing patient demographic, visit www.kindredrehab.com.
Kindred Hospital Rehabilitation Services, October 3, 2018
Learn 3 proven strategies to motivate patients and therapists through technology.
Research illustrates how the latest technology is being utilized by innovative health systems to transform every aspect of care delivery. This brief breaks down these findings and demonstrates how providers are using technology to excel in three key areas: patient engagement and outcomes, employee retention, and clinical efficiency.
1. Technology to Improve Patient Motivation
Patient engagement and motivation are strong predictors for whether or not the patient will have optimal clinical outcomes and improvement. Strategies to encourage engagement and motivation should incorporate new technologies. In fact, patient interviews supported the use of intuitive technologies that feature opportunities for practice outside of traditional care settings, goals for rehabilitative exercises, ongoing motivation and social interactions.1
Therapists point to specific strategies to improve motivation and patient engagement, all of which can be aided by new technology:
1. Setting understandable and achievable goals
2. Providing progress information
3. Defining how the patient could fare with no rehabilitation gains
4. Explaining why certain exercises were performed2
2. Technology to Enhance Employee Retention
Research also proves a clear connection between technology and employee satisfaction and retention. In the article, “The Link Between Technology and Retention,” Gareth Cartman made the point that3:
“To provide a more satisfying and prospering environment, we need to start mirroring the way people use technology at home.”
It is an important competitive advantage as well as a great recruitment tool to say that you’ve adopted the latest technology.4 Further, as a majority of the workforce becomes millennials, adopting the latest technology becomes even more critical to meeting employee expectations. Per TC Talent Culture, “this generation… who grew up learning in computer labs, taking tests on computers, and researching on their tablets, will want an experience tailored to their needs...”5
Adopting technology that enables providers to more effectively care for patients and connect with other providers will be key to hiring and retaining top talent.
3. Technology for Clinical Efficiency
The U.S. spends more per capita on healthcare than any country in the world. This has made the industry ripe for technologies designed to improve efficiencies and lower costs.
“Hospitals and health systems continue to make progress leveraging technology to improve patient safety and quality of care,” said Chantal Worzala, AHA vice president for health IT and policy.6 “We are also seeing that those engaged in new models of care are driving greater adoption of advanced health IT functions. These systems make it easier for patients to do things like request prescription refills online, and view and download clinical information. These advancements continue to enable patients to play a more informed, active role in their health and healthcare.”
A review of 13 studies involving the adoption of new technology in healthcare “identified evidence about the ability of mobile handheld technology to positively impact rapid response, error prevention, information accessibility, and data management in healthcare settings.”7
Implementation of successful technological tools is not always easy, and it often makes sense to partner with an organization that already has effective resources. An article by Info Entrepreneurs titled “Joint Ventures and Partnering,” posited that a successful joint venture partnership can offer “access to greater resources, including specialized…technology.”8
Case Study: RehabTracker
RehabTracker, a patient- focused smart-phone application, is increasingly being adopted by rehabilitation facilities nationwide. The HIPAA-compliant app enables patients to engage in their progress as they view updates from their therapy team, track progress on areas of functional improvement, and celebrate rehab milestones with family and friends.
“For patients who have had a stroke or an injury such as a hip fracture, RehabTracker enables them to view their goals, track progress and enhance communication in their support circle,” explained Muhammad Khan, physical therapist and program director at St. Catherine Hospital, where the app was first piloted for the hospitals of Community Healthcare System®.
Additionally, Khan noted that, “Motivation is key for patient success in rehabilitation. Patients are medically complex and need to be motivated with encouragement on a daily basis to help them progress.”
Community Healthcare System adopted the RehabTracker app for patients within its hospital-based rehabilitation unit at three of its hospitals in northwest Indiana. Since implementation, key quality metrics of Functional Independence Measure (FIM) gain and Discharge to Community have improved.
FIM Gain
2017
April 2018
Community Hospital
27.4
29.24
St. Catherine Hospital
25.39
33.03
St. Mary Medical Center
29.88
31.8
Discharge to Community
2017
April 2018
Community Hospital
72.1%
74.7%
St. Catherine Hospital
72.3%
77.2%
St. Mary Medical Center
82.9%
82.9%
How Kindred Can Help
To learn more about Kindred Hospital Rehabilitation Services (KHRS) and how RehabTracker can help your patients easily receive, monitor and share important milestones on the path to recover, visit kindredrehab.com.
References 1. Fager, S. K., & Burnfield, J. M. (2014). Patients’ experiences with technology during inpatient rehabilitation: opportunities to support independence and therapeutic engagement. Disability and Rehabilitation: Assistive Technology, 9(2), 121-127. 2. Ibid 3. The Link Between Technology And Retention by Gareth Cartman | November 5, 2014 talentculture.com 4. Ibid 5. Ibid 6. https://www.aha.org/guidesreports/2018-07-25-trendwatch-issue-brief-3-improving-patient-safety-and-health-care-quality?utm_source=newsletter&utm_medium=email&utm_content=07262018-at-pub&utm_campaign=aha-today 7. Mirela Prgomet, BAppSc(Hons), Andrew Georgiou, PhD, and Johanna I. Westbrook, PhD. The Impact of Mobile Handheld Technology on Hospital Physicians’ Work Practices and Patient Care: A Systematic Review. J Am Med Inform Assoc. 2009 Nov-Dec; 16(6): 792–801. doi: 10.1197/jamia.M3215 8. http://www.infoentrepreneurs.org/en/guides/joint-ventures-and-partnering/
Kindred Hospital Rehabilitation Services, August 1, 2018
Learn key strategies for increasing rehab patient engagement through technology.
The patient's experience, along with a hospital's reputation, is vital for long-term success. Studies indicate strong patient and family engagement in clinical care positively contributes to a favorable experience, as well as improved health outcomes and reduced costs.
Reputation, whether good or bad, plays a large part in attracting patients, employees, physicians and partner healthcare institutions—and patient and family engagement are vital drivers of a hospital's reputation.
The following contains strategies for incorporating technology into patient engagement initiatives. When providers understand these strategies and their key benefits, they are better positioned to overcome the challenges of today's healthcare environment.
New Opportunities in Patient Engagement and Empowerment
The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) have emphasized the role of patient engagement through new acute care payment systems and strategies. As a result, many hospitals and care providers are seeking new ways to use data and technology to improve patient engagement, empowerment and throughput opportunities.
One example of this is Kindred Hospital Rehabilitation Services' (KHRS) new app, RehabTracker. Since the technology launched, a majority of sites have experienced improvements in FIM gain and discharge to community.
"Our patients are medically complex, so it helps them focus on their goals," explains Muhammad Khan, physical therapist and program director at St. Catherine Hospital, where the app was first piloted for the hospitals of Community Healthcare System. "Motivating them every day is a big challenge, and we have seen improvement in our functional gain scores since January. We do believe that motivation by any means, whether it is sharing stories or information, helps with a patient's recovery."
Three Benefits of Patient Engagement
A commonly-held definition of patient engagement focuses on care providers working with patients to encourage involvement in their own healthcare decisions. Evidence shows that individuals engaged in their health are more likely to achieve better outcomes, and technology can be a significant contributor.
Improved outcomes: Tracking and reporting features illustrate improved patient progress.
Enhanced communication: Providers, patients and caregivers can better communicate with one another, providing updates on the patients' condition.
Increased patient satisfaction: Informed, engaged patients are likely to be more confident regarding their condition and satisfied with their experience and outcomes.
CMS Supports Tools to Foster Patient Engagement
Research underscores the growing value of a positive patient experience and demonstrates that hospitals that deliver a better patient experience perform better financially.
While increased patient participation and engagement are well-recognized as a core component of high-quality care, patient engagement is also central to achieving high-quality person-centered care, and has been associated with improved self-care, better physical functioning, and satisfaction with care. Fortunately, many new technologies are available to providers and hold the potential to better motivate and engage patients to take an active and ongoing role in their recovery—and much of that technology is, literally, in the patients' hands.
Research shows that technology benefits rehabilitation patients specifically, by clearly identifying purpose, goals, rules and a feedback system.
Strategies to Create Patient-Centric Tools
Providers must be prepared to face challenges when developing successful patient-centric technology solutions, such as difficulty securing funds and IT resources, the lack of healthcare knowledge among developers, different communication preferences and easily navigable design.
To address these issues, providers should work hand-in-hand with developers so design is informed by medical expertise and experience to provide patients and their loved ones valuable information based on their unique condition and treatments. Specifically to rehabilitative care, digital platforms should include input from experts in rehab services so patients understand their rehab plan and receive the necessary feedback to motivate them toward their goals.
RehabTracker—A Solution Designed With Your Patients in Mind
By partnering with rehab experts like KHRS, providers gain access to innovative tools without the heavy lift of creation from the ground up. The RehabTracker app ensures the patient, clinical team and family are all on the same page by allowing patients to:
Set goals with therapists
Document care plans and important information during bedside shift report, physician visits or interdisciplinary rounds
Track progress
Share results with invited family and friends, even over long-distance
Receive messages of support and celebrate milestones through recovery
RehabTracker is invaluable in improving patient engagement scores for host hospitals of rehabilitation units and helps prepare post-acute facilities for the future of value-based payment models.
Kindred Hospital Rehabilitation Services' expert therapists and staff are dedicated to treating the needs of highly acute patients in a compliant environment, thereby meeting patient goals, improved recovery and successful discharge. Our culture of patient advocacy, and focus on developing and implementing technology solutions, can help our partners focus on their goals of improving outcomes, increasing patient engagement, and operational efficiency.
How We Can Help
To learn more about KHRS and how RehabTracker can help your patients, and their family and friends, easily receive, monitor and share important milestones on the path to recovery, visit kindredrehab.com.
Kindred Hospital Rehabilitation Services, November 15, 2015
This article outlines the 10 steps hospital executives can take to maximize the overall performance of their rehab program, strengthen operations and census development, improve outcomes, enhance medical oversight and staffing issues, and position their organization for continued success. By following these 10 steps, rehab programs can thrive and drive greater value to their hospital, and most important, their patients.
With greater emphasis being placed on care transitions and readmission rates, inpatient rehabilitation programs have the incredible potential to become high-performing centers of excellence that optimize the performance of the entire hospital.
Rehabilitation is so critical because it is key to recovery for the growing population of medically complex patients, and essential in reducing readmissions and associated financial penalties. Maintaining a well-run rehab unit, however, is complex and requires specialized expertise. In fact, many units today do not reach their full potential because operational skill and resources are difficult to develop and maintain.
Overall Performance
1. Assess the performance of your inpatient rehab program.
How does your performance compare to that of high-performing inpatient rehab programs? Analyze and benchmark internal admissions and discharges, external admissions, internal costs, CMI, functional improvement gains, CARF/Joint Commission survey results and financial performance.
2. Evaluate internal and external market demand for rehabilitation services.
What percent of your med/surg patients who need rehab services are discharged to your inpatient rehab program versus local SNFs? What diagnoses? Growing market share in an increasingly competitive environment can be challenging. Understanding internal and external opportunities and implementing strategies to capture downstream business will increase market share and stabilize program volume.
3. Determine strategic direction for your rehab program.
Should you expand your rehab program? Should you consider opening a rehab program? Often rehab programs are siloed and not fully integrated as a critical component of a hospital’s services. A rehab program should provide a seamless transition for patients in need of intensive, quality rehab services and contribute to the hospital’s financial performance.
Operations and Census Development
4. Ensure appropriate leadership expertise.
Program directors must have the ability, beyond staffing, to optimize the performance of a rehab unit. Program leaders need to be skilled in census development, medical staff management, staff recruitment and leadership and regulatory compliance, as well as operational and financial management.
5. Market your rehab unit internally and externally.
Maintaining optimal patient volume and case mix requires a focused, integrated and disciplined approach. This includes a team approach to internal and external referral development, as well as pre-admission screening to ensure the right patients are admitted to your program at the right time in their recovery journey.
Outcomes
6. Measure and track outcomes.
The ability to track and report outcomes is critical for quality improvement, referral development and positioning for reform initiatives. Do you capture and track functional improvement metrics, compare outcomes to peers and measure hospital readmission rates? Can you demonstrate superior outcomes?
7. Know the regulations and comply.
Federal and state regulations, including adherence to the three-hour rule and 60/40 regulation, require constant attention and oversight. Equally important is documentation competency to ensure accuracy and to reduce denial risk. Do you have a comprehensive pre- and post-admission process to reduce denials and comply with regulations?
Medical Oversight/Staffing Issues
8. Become CARF-accredited.
CARF accreditation can help demonstrate to patients, payors and referral sources the quality of clinical care, service delivery and overall excellence of your rehabilitation services. Are you CARF-ready?
9. Choose medical directors carefully, define expectations and provide education and training.
A medical director who fully understands changing regulations and has peer support will have a positive impact on the success of your rehab unit. It is important to ensure medical directors are engaged members of the team and have the tools they need to drive program results.
10. Invest in staff education and utilize an interdisciplinary approach.
Ongoing education for managers and staff is critical for the delivery of quality care, skill enhancement and leadership development. Program directors should drive an interdisciplinary team approach within the hospital and serve as ambassadors to integrate nursing and therapy staff, and coordinate external resources.
The Bottom Line
Inpatient rehab programs are an opportunity area for hospitals and an important component of the care continuum. Understanding the intricacies of rehab can help hospitals improve patient care, quality outcomes, and their competitive advantage in the marketplace.
Kindred Hospital Rehabilitation Services (KHRS) works with more than 150 hospital-based programs nationwide to help them bring greater success and better patient outcomes to their acute rehab settings. To learn how KHRS can help optimize the performance of your rehabilitation program, visit kindredrehab.com.
