Home Health & Hospice Week

Ironically, a new study encourages more home health therapy visits for patients discharged from the ICU, right at the time that the industry’s therapy utilization is in flux.

In an analysis of 3,176 patients who stayed in the hospital intensive care unit for at least 24 hours in 2012, researchers found that one-third of Medicare beneficiaries did not receive home health therapy after being discharged, according to research presented at the Society of Critical Care Medicine’s Critical Care Congress in February. Due to ADL deficits, “patients who are discharged and are homebound should be evaluated by physical, occupational and speech therapists,” Jason Falvey, physical therapist and post-doctoral fellow at Yale School of Medicine, urged in a press release.

While 33 percent of patients did not receive a single visit in the 30 days after discharge, they did receive a median of 3.5 home rehabilitation visits within 30 days of discharge overall. Patients who were older, had higher OASIS disability measure scores, and severe dyspnea were more likely to get home health therapy, according to the researchers. On the other hand, patients with a higher comorbidity count, living in rural regions, and living alone were less likely to receive therapy visits.