The last thing anyone wants to hear after surgery or any other procedure that requires post-op rehabilitation, is that it is necessary to return to the hospital for more treatment.
Today, neither does the rehab facility. The healthcare landscape is evolving from a “fee for service” based reimbursement to a more value-based payment model. As opposed to providers and systems billing for individual, and sometimes duplicated services, the government now encourages collaboration to enhance outcomes.
The objective is to improve quality and reduce avoidable hospital readmissions while delivering care within an appropriate length of time and in the right place. That’s why Wendy Burton, LPTA, Beth Sholom Village Rehab director, and her team of physical and occupational therapists know it’s important to “get it right the first time.”
“All downstream providers have to be accountable, which is why we work hard with patients to get them back on their feet after knee or hip surgery or relearn basic skills after a stroke,” says David Abraham, Beth Sholom Village CEO. “Our goal is to lower the cost and length of their stay with us while also ensuring that they will not have to go back to the hospital for reasons that could have been prevented.”
Local real estate agent Sandy Preiser saw all of that first hand after falling in a home she was listing in Chesapeake, breaking her femur in the process. “ I knew immediately it was a significant injury,” she recalls.
After a week in the hospital, Preiser was ready for rehab, but faced the question of where to go. She had options and previous experience with other local centers, but this time, it was Passover and that meant just one choice if she wanted matzah and kosher food: the Gifford Rehabilitation Pavilion at Beth Sholom Village.
“I couldn’t have asked for better care,” says Preiser. “The physical therapists were wonderful and so encouraging. I thought it was going to take a while to be able to walk again, but I was out of there in less than two weeks.”
Not every rehab facility is making the grade. Hospital systems are narrowing their collaborations to the most appropriate, high-quality partners, like Beth Sholom Village, who are achieving favorable outcomes. Indeed they are becoming more involved in informing patients of their preferred partner sites and agencies.
“We are committed to this value- based shift so we can remain an integral partner to our local health systems and most importantly, our patients and residents,” says Burton. “We offer full rehabilitative services seven days a week so our patients receive the treatment they need every day and transition to their next level of care, including going home, as soon and as seamlessly as possible.”
“The days of automatic Medicare covered 21-day rehab stays are a thing of the past,” adds Abraham. “The government is more focused on the quality of the treatment, not the length of it. Patients and families need to know this and work with us to help their loved ones in the recovery process.” Rehab at BSV is about to get a rehab itself, with some new equipment and a refreshed look as a result of the ongoing refurbishment of the Berger-Goldrich skilled care center.
To learn more about Rehab at BSV, call 757-420-2512.
- Joel Rubin