Hello to all. I recently graduated, and went straight into travelling PT, to knock out my loans. I currently work in Acute Care, in Level One Trauma center, and I enjoy all aspects of it except for discharge planning. Do I recommend Home PT, Sub-Acute rehab or Acute rehab?
A good Samaritan in me, tells me that a higher level of care will always be more beneficial for the patient, therefore always go for acute or sub-acute, because the more rehab the patient gets, the better for them. However, I feel that this logic may be irresponsible in regard to patients' insurances, and some of them could actually have gone home.
If you work in acute care, please help me resolve this conflict! What are your guidelines for sending someone home vs Rehab?
Posts: 413
Joined: March 15, 1999
From: Cleveland
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Hello Radean,
I work in SNF and Home Health areas. Your recommendations should take into account both the clinical needs of the patient and what their insurance will cover. I doubt that the PT has the final say regarding where a patient transitions to from acute care, but dc planner should consider your/IDT input. Many hospital dc planners use algorithms or hospital policy to determine dc location. I would ask your supervisor if the department uses a clinical tool to objectively determine the best dc location for each patient.
I would simply discharge them to the level of care where they belong. If their insurance company won't pay then they can't go to where you send them, and they will have to go home. But I would never send someone to a higher level of care than what they really need because that's totally rediculous for so many reasons. After the patient goes home then they can go to Outpatient Therapy or have Home Health Therapy and nursing care, which will still help them greatly.
< Message edited by CardioFlex Therapy -- April 14, 2018 9:21:13 PM >