Admitting A Loved One to A Skilled Nursing & Rehab Facility - FAQs

By: Judah Gutwein, L.N.H.A.

Writing for: The Grand Healthcare System

I have put together a list of several of the most commonly asked questions regarding the admission of a loved one to a skilled nursing and rehabilitation center. I hope you will find it useful and on behalf of The Grand Healthcare System, we wish you the very best of luck!

• Q. What is Sub-acute Care and Rehabilitation? 
  A. Subacute care and Rehabilitation refers to a complete and holistic approach to caring for short term rehabilitation patients who require comprehensive therapy before returning home after an acute hospitalization. Most short term rehabilitation centers should provide all 3 disciplines of therapy (Speech, Occupational and Physical) which is typically covered by Medicare and a supplemental/secondary insurance.
• Q. Does the patient need to be admitted to the hospital for 3 consecutive nights in order to qualify under Medicare for short term rehab? 
  A. Yes. Currently, Medicare makes the ‘3 night stay’ a prerequisite before covering in-patient therapy at a Post-acute or sub-acute rehab facility. However, other HMO’s and insurances do not have a similar requirement.
• Q. How soon after a referral is sent by the hospital can a patient be admitted to a skilled nursing and rehab facility? 
  

  A. Hospital patient referrals are typically sent to the facility via a dedicated online website and most nursing and rehabilitation centers will review it very quickly since they are typically competing with several other centers for the same admission.

• Q. Do skilled nursing and rehab facilities admit patients over a weekend?
    A. Most facilities will admit patients 7 days a week.
• Q. Are patients only admitted directly from the hospital?
    A. Not at all. Depending upon the nature of the admission, facilities will admit patients directly from Assisted Living centers, from home and even from other post-acute rehab and skilled nursing facilities.