Study examines long-term outcomes of patients treated in inpatient rehabilitation hospitals

A new study released today at a meeting of the American Medical Rehabilitation Providers Association (AMRPA) shows that patients treated in inpatient rehabilitation hospitals and units had better long-term clinical outcomes than those treated in nursing homes. The study is the most comprehensive national analysis to date examining the long-term outcomes of clinically similar patient populations treated in inpatient rehabilitation hospitals and units or nursing homes.

"This study shows that patients treated in inpatient rehabilitation hospitals and units have better outcomes, go home earlier and live longer than those treated in skilled nursing facilities," said Bruce M. Gans, M.D., AMRPA board chair, and executive vice president and chief medical officer of Kessler Institute for Rehabilitation.

"This confirms what we in the patient community have known – timely, intensive and coordinated programs provided in a rehabilitation hospital or unit help return patients to their homes and communities faster than skilled nursing facilities," said Susan H. Connors, president and CEO of the Brain Injury Association of America. "Rehabilitation hospitals and units are key to reducing costly hospital readmissions for those with a wide range of disabling conditions, including people with brain injuries and strokes."

Policy Implications

Currently, there are proposals being considered in Congress to cut or freeze Medicare coverage for inpatient rehabilitation hospitals and units as a means to pay for reform of the Medicare Physician Fee Schedule. The proposals are based on the premise that inpatient rehabilitation hospitals and units and nursing homes are the same. If enacted, the cuts would inappropriately divert patients in need of hospital-level rehabilitation to other settings despite their clinical needs.

"Congress should not be so quick to push patients out of inpatient rehabilitation hospitals or units and into nursing homes.  That would deny many Medicare patients the care they need to more quickly return to their family and community activities," added Gans. "Policy decisions on medical rehabilitation should prioritize what is best for the patient, not what is the cheapest option."

"Congress must protect patient access to inpatient rehabilitation hospitals and units to ensure Medicare beneficiaries receive the right treatment in the right setting," said Connors.

Key Findings

Assessment of Patient Outcomes of Rehabilitative Care Provided in Inpatient Rehabilitation Facilities and After Discharge conducted by Dobson DaVanzo & Associates, LLC, studied a national sample of Medicare fee-for-service claims data to compare the clinical outcomes and Medicare payments for patients who received rehabilitation in an inpatient rehabilitation hospital to clinically similar patients in nursing homes.  The study's key findings show:

• Over a two-year episode of care, inpatient rehabilitation hospital and unit patients clinically comparable to skilled nursing facility patients, on average:
  • Returned home from their initial hospital rehabilitation stay two weeks earlier
  • Remained home nearly two months longer
  • Stayed alive nearly two months longer
• Of matched patients treated:
  • Inpatient rehabilitation hospital and unit patients showed an 8 percent lower mortality rate than skilled nursing facility patients
  • Inpatient rehabilitation hospital and unit patients with 5 of the 13 diagnostic conditions showed significantly fewer hospital readmissions than skilled nursing facility patients
  • Inpatient rehabilitation hospital and unit patients made 5 percent fewer emergency room visits per year than skilled nursing facility patients
• These better clinical outcomes were achieved by inpatient rehabilitation hospitals and units for only an additional cost to Medicare of $12.59 per day.

To see the full study, visit:
http://www.amrpa.org/Newsroom/Final_Dobson_DaVanzo_Report.pdf.   

The Role of Inpatient Rehabilitation Hospitals and Units

Medicare pays for approximately 60 percent of all patients treated in inpatient rehabilitation hospitals and units, and strictly regulates and requires highly specialized, carefully coordinated and individualized care to help restore the skills and abilities people need to return home to their family and community activities. Typical conditions treated in these medical rehabilitation hospitals include stroke, brain and spinal cord injury, neurological diseases and major musculoskeletal disorders.

For those patients needing inpatient rehabilitation, nursing homes are virtually unregulated as to how rehabilitation services are provided. The absence of these critical regulatory standards leads to more varied and less intense rehabilitation treatment in the nursing home setting.

While there are many settings in which individual rehabilitation therapy services may be provided, only the most complex and vulnerable patients who need medical rehabilitation are – or should be treated in an inpatient rehabilitation hospital or unit. In fact, rehabilitation hospitals and units currently decline to admit between one-third and one-half of the patients who are referred to be admitted, because the rehabilitation physicians who review these cases determine that the patient could more appropriately be served in an alternative setting.