How do I choose a rehabilitation facility?

To choose the best rehabilitation facility for you or your loved one, it is important to know that there are different kinds of facilities from which to choose.

Maybe you've even heard the terms used to refer to those choices - skilled nursing (or sub-acute rehabilitation) facilities, nursing homes, assisted living centers, and acute rehabilitation hospitals.

Although all of these facilities have rehabilitation professionals on staff, only one specializes in rehabilitation - the acute rehabilitation hospital.

Because their primary focus is rehabilitation, acute rehabilitation hospitals, like HealthSouth, provide a level of care distinctly different from other facilities that offer rehabilitation services.

Acute rehabilitation hospitals:

• Provide more intensive therapeutic services
• Have more physician specialists with expertise in treating patients with disabling injuries/illnesses
• Have a higher percentage of registered nurses skilled in rehabilitation nursing
• Have the most highly trained therapists
• Offer the most innovative therapeutic programs
• Have the most up-to-date technologies and facilities
• Provide comprehensive patient/family education

When considering your rehabilitation options, the most important question to ask is, "Which level of care best meets the patient's needs?"

How is acute rehabilitation different from other kinds of rehabilitation?

HealthSouth provides acute rehabilitation, a level of care quite different from other facilities that offer rehabilitation services. That difference is evident in several important ways.

Medical Services
As an acute rehabilitation hospital, HealthSouth has an extensive medical staff trained to provide the comprehensive medical management needed to help patients achieve optimal health and independence. Our medical staff is comprised of:

• Internal Medicine, and Physical Medicine & Rehabilitation physicians
• Numerous physician specialists, including pulmonologists, orthopedists, cardiologists, neurologists, and neuropsychologists

Therapeutic Services
Acute rehabilitation hospitals provide a higher level of therapeutic services than other rehabilitation facilities. Although the intensity and duration of therapies depend on the patient's needs and capabilities, HealthSouth is equipped to provide each patient with therapeutic services:

• Seven days per week
• For three or more hours a day

The intensity and availability of therapeutic services provided through acute rehabilitation result in a high level of functional outcomes and discharges to the community. In fact, patients admitted to a rehabilitation hospital are three times more likely to go home than those admitted to a skilled nursing facility.

Nursing Services
As with medical and therapeutic services, acute rehabilitation hospitals provide a distinctly different level of nursing care than other kinds rehabilitation facilities. At HealthSouth:

• A 24-hour team of registered nurses and personal care assistants assess and attend to each patient's needs. They work in partnership under the primary nurse-model, which assures continuity of care.
• Patients receive 6-8 hours of nursing care each day (compared to four or less hours per day per patient at skilled nursing facilities). This high level of nursing care leads to early recognition/prevention of medical complications, more out-of-bed hours, and increased opportunities for patient- family education.
• Fifty percent of nursing staff are registered nurses (compared to thirty-five percent at skilled nursing facilities).
• Many of our staff nurses are certified registered rehabilitation nurses. Trained to meet the unique needs of individuals with disabling injuries and illnesses, these nursing specialists provide holistic patient care and patient-family education, facilitate carry-over from therapy, and reinforce patient goals.

What is an LTACH?

Medicare defines Long-Term Acute Care Hospitals (LTACH) as hospitals that have an average inpatient length of stay of greater than 25 days. LTACHs typically provide extended medical and rehabilitative care for patients who are clinically complex and may suffer from multiple acute or chronic conditions.

How is an LTACH different from other types of post-acute facilities?

Medical Services
As a long term acute care hospital, HealthSouth Regional Specialty Hospital has an extensive medical staff trained to provide the comprehensive medical management needed to help patients achieve optimal health and independence. Our physicians are available 24-hours per day, and attend our patients a minimum of 5 days per week. Our medical staff is comprised of:

• Internal Medicine, Pulmonology, and Physical Medicine & Rehabilitation physicians
• Numerous physician specialists, including orthopedists, cardiologists, neurologists, and neuropsychologists

Nursing Services
As with medical and therapeutic services, long term acute care hospitals provide a distinctly different level of nursing care than other kinds post acute facilities. At HealthSouth:

• A 24-hour team of registered nurses and personal care assistants assess and attend to each patient's needs. They work in partnership under the primary nurse-model, which assures continuity of care.
• Patients receive 8.5 - 11 hours of nursing care each day (compared to four or less hours per day per patient at skilled nursing facilities). This high level of nursing care leads to early recognition/prevention of medical complications, more out-of-bed hours, and increased opportunities for patient- family education.
• More than fifty percent of nursing staff are registered nurses (compared to thirty-five percent at skilled nursing facilities), and are ALCS certified. This increased level of RN's ensures that medically complex patients will be treated safely and efficiently.

Therapeutic Services

At HealthSouth Regional Specialty Hospital, we believe rehabilitation hospitals is a key factor in strengthening our patient's in preparation for their return to the community. Although the intensity and duration of therapies depend on the patient's needs and capabilities, HealthSouth is equipped to provide each patient with comprehensive therapeutic services.

What is the difference between post-acute care facilities?

Why should I choose HealthSouth?

Choosing a rehabilitation facility, or an LTACH is a lot like choosing a doctor. Sometimes a general practitioner is just fine. Other times you need a specialist.

When you need that specialist, you want someone with an excellent reputation and lots of experience in their chosen field. You want someone who has access to the best technologies and facilities. And, most importantly, you want someone who will use all of his or her expertise to provide the care you need.

In the post-acute rehabilitation and recovery field, HealthSouth is like that physician specialist.

As post - acute hospitals, we specialize in physical rehabilitation and medical recovery. It is our primary focus. It has been for over 15 years.

Therefore, our expert staff dedicates all their skills and knowledge to one primary goal --- improving each patient's functional abilities through intensive, individualized medical and therapeutic services. To help patients reach that goal, we provide the most current, effective technologies, equipment, and therapies.

Our ability to assist patients in attaining their goals is enhanced by our longstanding relationships with all of Central Pennsylvania's major healthcare facilities. Through these relationships, HealthSouth has an extensive staff of onsite physicians with unmatched expertise in their medical specialties.