The Role of the Long-Term Acute Care Hospital
Courtesy Select Specialty Hospital, Collin County LIVING WELL Magazine
What is a Long-Term Acute Care Hospital?
Long-term acute care hospitals provide medical care to critically ill patients with complex conditions over an extended period of time. Medicare data indicate that LTACH patients are more severely ill than those treated at other types of post-acute care facilities. Patients typically are admitted needing long-term services for complex medical problems such as multi-organ or multi-system failure, post surgical, or organ transplant complications, treatment of complex wounds, multiple injuries, and traumatic or acquired brain injury. Some need inpatient dialysis or help being weaned from a ventilator. Patients often are referred to LTACHs directly from intensive care units (ICUs). The average length of stay for LTACH patients on Medicare is 25 days; however, some patients may stay for longer periods (by comparison, the average Medicare length of stay in a short-term acute care hospital is five days).
Long-term acute care hospitals offer comprehensive, personalized medical treatment and therapies designed to improve out-comes for the medically complex patients they serve. Patients benefit from daily physician visits and the presence of a physician onsite 24 hours a day, which they would not have in a nursing home or other long-term care facility. Long-term acute care hospitals also provide medical and rehabilitation services that are not routinely offered at other types of facilities such as care of complex wounds and injuries and inpatient dialysis. In addition, they provide comprehensive laboratory and radiology services on site. Long-term acute care hospitals employ medical specialists and subspecialists.
Unlike a nursing home, patients don’t live permanently at an LTACH. Rather, the purpose of an LTACH stay is to optimize a patient’s ability to live independently and return to his or home community or to achieve the highest level of wellness possible and then move on to the next level of care, be it a skilled nursing facility, transitional care unit, or home with specialized home care services.
A Team Approach
Staff at LTACHs use a team approach as they work to identify all of a patient’s medical conditions, devise treatment plans, and set goals that will result in positive, long-term outcomes for that individual. Physicians are integral members of those teams. Many of the physicians who work at LTACHs are hospitalists who have been trained in internal medicine, family medicine, or critical care. The physicians are also supported by nurses, many whom have advanced training in areas such as wound, ostomy, and continence care; pharmacists; nutritionists; diabetes educators; occupational, speech, and physical therapists.
Each day, physicians round with nurses and a mix of other providers, sharing information and viewing the patient’s status from a variety of perspectives. Between seven and 10 days into a patient’s stay, team members hold an update meeting to discuss the patient’s progress. The team continues to meet weekly to discuss clinical and social issues affecting a patient, review the patient’s progress, and define goals for the coming week.
Good communication among LTACH staff, patients, LTACH providers, and community providers is essential.
Long-term acute care hospitals have emerged as an important component in the continuum of care. Data have shown that care in an LTACH can result in lower costs, fewer hospital readmissions, and more successful ventilator weaning. Thus, it is clear that LTACHs will continue to have a place in a reforming health care system. Because they serve patients with conditions that are beyond the scope of a shot-term acute care hospital, transitional care facility, or skilled nursing facility, LTACHs have a unique niche.
Designed to provide focused, multidisciplinary patient care, Select Specialty Hospital specializes in the treatment of the most critical and complex medical and surgical conditions. Our long-term acute care hospitals provide the ideal environment for patients by offering a high level of clinical expertise while optimizing length of stay. Select Specialty Hospital offers a variety of programs and services to match the patient’s acuity and individual needs. Our patients are most often transferred to us from another hospital because of our high quality of care and unique potential for producing superior outcomes.
The care at Select Specialty Hospital is comprehensive and uncompromising in producing optimal outcomes for our patients. We are committed to restoring our patients to the highest level of function possible. We recognize that having our patients and their families entrust us with their care is a privilege and an opportunity to make a difference in their lives.
To make a referral, or for more information about Select Specialty Hospital and our services, please contact us at 469-892-1400 or visit our website at www.selectspecialtyhospitals.com.
