Insights and Trends
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5 Strategies for Reducing Reimbursement Disputes
August 06, 2019The world of healthcare is becoming increasingly complex. Consequently, providers running inpatient rehabilitation programs are confronted with growing challenges – including the issue of reimbursement.
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How Does Florida’s Repeal of Certain Hospital Certificate of Need Requirements Impact Rehab Hospitals?
July 02, 2019Certificate of Need (CON) is a public policy tool which seeks to slow healthcare cost growth, avoid duplication of programs and services and ensure that new development meets the needs of the community. Nationally, only 12 states have no CON requirements. In Florida, the CON program was enacted in 1973 and applied to the building of new health centers or expansion of certain, complex medical services – including hospitals, nursing facilities, hospices and intermediate care facilities for the developmentally disabled.
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St. Catherine’s Rehab Unit Showing Positive Measures After the Introduction of RehabTracker
January 28, 2019Patient engagement is especially critical in rehabilitation, but can technology drive greater engagement and thus improve functional measures?
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Quality Clinical Outcomes Vital to Value-Based Care: Part 2
October 09, 2018This is the second in a two-part series breaking down everything you need to know about quality clinical outcomes and the move to value-based care.
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Quality Clinical Outcomes Vital to Value-Based Care: Part 1
October 09, 2018This is the first in a two-part series breaking down everything you need to know about quality clinical outcomes and the move to value-based care.
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IRF Final Rule Raises Important Concerns
August 16, 2018On July 31, 2018, the IRF Final Rule was issued by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, which will take effect FY 2020. In addition to the updates to IRF payment rates and other measures designed to streamline care and reduce inefficiencies, one of the most important takeaways from the Final Rule relates to the removal of the Functional Independence Measure (FIM™) Instrument and Associated Function Modifiers from the IRF-Patient Assessment Instrument (PAI) and Refinements to the Case Mix Classification System.
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How to Work with Patients Who Refuse Therapy
May 15, 2017Most therapists experience patients who do not want to engage in care from time to time. These guidelines help therapists adjust their approach and encourage a patient to actively participate in treatment.
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Understanding the New Long Term Care Facilities “Megarule” Conditions of Participation Regulation and Phase 1
February 28, 2017The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services finalized a major new rule approximately one month ago to make significant changes to improve patient care and safety. The new rule’s compliance obligations, which will be implemented in three phases that begin this year and extend through 2019, represent the largest update the industry has seen since 1991. The “megarule" as some in the industry are calling it sets high standards for care and targets infections, hospital readmissions, staffing practices and resident safety among other areas.
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Freezing Nerves Before Knee Replacement Improves Recovery, According to Study
February 28, 2017The results of a recent study at LSU Health New Orleans School of Medicine found that freezing nerves through cryoneurolysis before knee replacement surgery led to better outcomes.
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At 66, Pat Conroy Turns His Health Around
February 28, 2017Pat Conroy makes no bones about it in a recent Washington Post article – his road to recovery, which began three years ago after a failing liver and Type 2 diabetes landed him in the hospital, has not been easy.
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Moving Forward After Lower Extremity Amputation
February 28, 2017Each year, approximately 30,000–40,000 lower extremity amputations are performed in the United States. 30% of lower extremity amputations are performed above the knee (AKA), and 70% are performed below the knee (BKA). In every instance, intensive and specialized rehabilitation is required to adjust to a prosthesis and adapt in order to return to activities of daily living and the hobbies a patient enjoyed prior to surgery.
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Pain Management and the Consequences of Unrelieved Pain
February 28, 2017The consequences of chronic pain are far-reaching and go beyond physical sensations of ongoing discomfort. Research shows that unrelieved pain negatively impacts patients in every way – socially, physically and financially.
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Moving Forward After Hip Replacement Surgery
February 28, 2017Approximately 332,000 total hip replacements are performed in the United States each year. Hip replacements are among the most common and effective surgeries in orthopedics, and quality rehabilitation following surgery returns restores function for patients whose activities have become limited by difficulties with walking.
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12 Things It Takes to Be A Speech-Language Pathologist
February 28, 2017What is required to be a great speech therapist? Above-average intelligence, kindness and a team spirit – to name a few. As we honor speech-language pathologists in May for Better Hearing and Speech Month, we reflect on 12 qualities SLPs possess and use in their delivery of care.
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What You Need to Know About Aphasia
February 28, 2017Aphasia is a language disorder that affects nearly one-third of stroke victims. Aphasia occurs when there is damage to the communications hub in the left side of the brain. While aphasia disrupts communication skills, it does not affect a person’s thinking skills. It is critical to watch for signs and symptoms of aphasia following a stroke, and during Aphasia Awareness Month we want to remind people what to look for if a patient or loved one is at increased risk for the disorder.
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Moving Forward After Knee Replacement Surgery
February 28, 2017Total knee replacement can be a good option for individuals with a deteriorating knee joint and progressive pain. Learn exactly what knee replacement entails and what to expect following surgery.
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Action-Observation for Stroke Patients
February 28, 2017New research shows that merely observing others perform physical tasks can activate the damaged regions of stroke patients’ brains. Through functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI), researchers at the University of Southern California found that the activity was strongest when stroke patient
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