Following a financially straining year, health leaders are looking for ways to achieve and maintain strong financial performance without utilizing excess resources.
Rehabilitation partnership continues to be a key strategy for hospitals looking to meet today’s top healthcare challenges without expending unnecessary capital. For instance, research notes hospitals that partner with a post-acute expert can experience a 15-30% reduction in operating costs all while increasing hospital scale and staying up to date on specialized clinical practices.1
However, not all post-acute partners are created equal.
Discover three of the top qualities to look for in a rehabilitation partner that can help a hospital maintain strong financial performance include:
- Providing specialized care for medically complex patients
Patient needs can vary based on location, age, race, gender and more, so having a partner that is equipped with specialized resources and expertise to treat a wide variety of complex conditions is critical for patient and hospital outcomes.
Additionally, as generational shifts continue to occur in the post-acute setting (aging out of baby boomers), having a partner that can identify these trends ahead of time to help shift hospital priorities will prove substantially valuable in the long-term.
- Streamlining the patient care path
Rehabilitation therapy services are expected to continue to grow through 2028.2 With this expected growth, it is important to evaluate where patients are going to receive rehabilitative care and where there is an opportunity to keep patients within the system.
Expanding post-acute services within the hospital’s care continuum can help hospitals have more control over outcomes, reduce care transitions and can help maintain patient satisfaction throughout the care journey.
- Supporting Medicare’s triple aim
Improving the U.S. healthcare system requires simultaneous pursuit of three aims: enhancing the overall experience of care, improving the health of populations and reducing per capita costs of healthcare.3 The right partner can help hospitals accomplish each of these pursuits, therefore generating:
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- Enhanced patient care. This is done by providing exceptional care through high-quality programs aimed at improving patient health and independence from admission to discharge.
- Improved community health. Expanding health access to those that need it most improves the overall health of the community. An experienced rehabilitation partner will have access to the latest national trends and resources beyond the data available to individual facilities. This allows local programs to be equipped with best-in-class treatment plans to effectively treat a wider variety of complex conditions.
- Lower care cost. Greater patient access, expertise and quality lead to better outcomes, lower length of stay and lower readmissions. Additionally, facilities are able to more effectively deploy resources and improve operational efficiency, further lowering costs.
- Enhanced patient care. This is done by providing exceptional care through high-quality programs aimed at improving patient health and independence from admission to discharge.
Being able to rely on an experienced partner eases the burden of managing inpatient rehabilitation – increasing patient access and improving clinical quality and operational efficiency. The domino effect helps hospitals achieve greater financial performance.
Read our white paper, “5 Financial Benefits of Rehabilitation Partnership” to discover the additional benefits.
References:
- Gosselin, E. (2023). Is M&A the key to survival?. Definitive Healthcare. https://www.definitivehc.com/blog/mergers-acquisition-key-to-survival
- Fortune Business Insights. (2021). S. Occupational & Physical Therapy Services Market Size, share & covid-19 impact analysis, by setting, application, and Payor, and forecast 2022-2029. U.S. Occupational & Physical Therapy Services Market Report. Retrieved April 12, 2023, from https://www.fortunebusinessinsights.com/u-s-occupational-physical-therapy-services-market-106420
- Berwick, D. M., Nolan, T., & Whittington, J. (2008). The triple aim: Care, health, and cost: Health Affairs Journal. Health Affairs. Retrieved February 17, 2022, from https://www.healthaffairs.org/doi/10.1377/hlthaff.27.3.759#:~:text=In%20the%20aggregate%2C%20we%20call,costs%20of%20care%20for%20populations.
