In my post Post Hospital Planning, one option for rehab after a hospital stay is called an Acute Rehab Hospital. What is an Acute Rehab Hospital?
There are two types of inpatient rehab available. Both can meet most people’s needs but function differently. Depending on your capabilities and needs, intensive rehab or more moderate to mild rehab maybe be best for you.
Acute Rehab Hospitals are inpatient facilities that provide more intense rehabilitation . They do not manage complex medical conditions like LTACs do. Instead they focus on the physical rehabilitation with the goal of getting you back to your baseline functioning. Your hospital social worker or case manager will work with you to determine if you meet criteria for this rehab.
How to Qualify
First you have to get recommendations from a physical and occupational therapist. They are your voucher. In my experience, the hospital doctor does not carry much weight into the recommendation. However, you still need the doctor to get an order. Therapy will not recommend you for acute rehab unless you can meet the following:
- You can tolerate at LEAST 3 hours of therapy daily, 5 days a week
- Require therapy from at least 2 disciplines: Physical therapy, Occupational therapy or Speech therapy
- You can show progress in therapy for 15 hours over a 7 day period
- You are working towards the goal of gaining back your baseline level of functioning
Most patients freak out when they hear they need to tolerate 3 hours of therapy daily. But I want to ease your mind and let you know that those 3 hours are spread throughout the day. They are often split up into 3-5 smaller sessions of about 45 minutes at a time. Check out CMS.gov’s fact sheet for more information.
Acute Rehabs Specializing in Care
Some Acute Rehab facilities will specialize in different areas of care. Similarly to Acute Hospitals, they have special niches. Some types of specialty care they may provide:
- Traumatic Brain Injury care
- Neurological Disorders
- Stroke
- Spinal Cord Injury
- Amputations
- Wound Care
- Heart and lung conditions
- Lymphadema
- Orthopedic conditions
- Tremors
- Dementia
- And more!
Specializing in these types of care does NOT mean they provide the same type of complex monitoring that a hospital or LTAC does. It does mean that their staff is certified and trained to work with these medical areas. You can often find what an acute rehab hospital specializes in by going to their website.
Is Acute Rehab Covered By Insurance?
As with Skilled Nursing Facilities (SNFs) and Home Health Care services, insurance dictates which acute rehab hospital you can go to. You will have more choices if you have Traditional/Original Medicare. Medicare advantage/replacement plans and commercial insurances have contracts. You will have to contact your insurance company to see which rehab facilities you can go to.
Similarly to the LTAC setting, a social worker or case manager is required to send insurance companies your medical records. In order to get paid, the rehab is required to prove that you deserve to be covered. Their documentation must exhibit your progress. Consequently, if you are not participating in therapy, they cannot prove your progress. So make sure you do the best you can!
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