Physical therapy in the intensive care unit benefits hospital’s bottom line

Study, funded by Johns Hopkins Critical Care Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation, refutes financial concerns that early rehabilitation raises costs

In a study evaluating the financial impact of providing early physical therapy for intensive care patients, researchers at Johns Hopkins found that the up-front costs are outweighed by the financial savings generated by earlier discharges from the intensive care unit and shorter hospital stays overall. An article describing the findings, “ICU Early Physical Rehabilitation Programs: Financial Modeling of Cost Savings,” is published online today ahead of print in the March issue of Critical Care Medicine.

Please click here for full article

Education Resources offers a complete offering of acute care courses by renowned faculty, including: Christiane Perme, Donna Frownfelter, Jennifer Bottomley, Ellen Hillegass, Dan Malone, and Julie Stierwalt 
Please view all our acute care courses here 

 

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Announcing the Winner of our Therapies in the School Blog Competition

Thank you to all who posted their comments in our blog after having attended the annual school based conference back in November. We very much appreciate all your feedback.

In our random drawing, we are pleased to announce Occupational Therapist; Anne Marie as the winner of our Therapies in the School Blog competition. She will receive free registration to our 2013 Therapies in the Schools Conference – to be held November 21-22, 2013 – Framingham, MA (details to follow shortly)

“2012 was my third consecutive Therapies in the Schools conference. There is always a variety of material to choose from, so much that I invited my co-workers to attend as well so that we could share information from the different workshops. Videos and slides of therapy in action are always helpful to see how it really works. The speakers who made us laugh or who made us get up and try the activities ourselves were most effective, and were good role models for how I can teach the same ideas and activities to teachers and other staff in the schools where I work.” Anne Marie

Congratulations Anne Marie – see you in November!

We encourage all past participants of our Therapies in the school conference to post their comments and feedback – please post comment here

Thank you again

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The Role of the Physical Therapist in an Acute Care Setting

You may have seen the recent physical therapy journal (December, 2012) that was devoted to rehabilitation of people with critical illness. Those of us who have worked in an acute care setting have seen acquired weakness that seems to be greater than one would expect from prolonged bed rest, and now there is considerable evidence to support this observation.

The physical therapist’s presence in acute care/ICU can reduce the risk of adverse medical events including pneumonia, blood clots, readmission and longer lengths of stay. This has obvious impacts on hospital costs, future medical costs, overall healthcare costs and morbidity.

Intervention guidelines are now being developed to address this acquired weakness with regard to dose, contraindications, and how to progress patients safely. Patients can been seen along the way, from the ICU until discharge and continuing into the home. But we cannot rest on our laurels…we may be called upon to continue to collect evidence that includes not only function and functional improvement, but current and future costs of an episode of care. Avoiding re-admission will be an important part of this equation, with patients ending up in the proper/safe discharge location, hopefully with the recommendations of physical therapy.

We’d like to hear from you:
What has been your experience treating this population? How have you adapted to the shorter hospital stays? Do you treat in the ER? What are the biggest challenges you face in the acute care/ICU setting? What guidelines do you refer to when assessing exercise safety? Are you part of the team that determines discharge location and ensures quality transitions?

 

 

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Why don’t more people know that therapy can help their dizziness?

Dizziness and vestibular disorders affect 1/3rd of people during some time in their adult lives. Many of these folks have no idea that this is an inner ear disorder and many have no idea that physical or occupational therapy could be the answer to their problem. Imagine walking around dizzy all the time…not fun! 

Many patients turn to therapy as a last resort. Maybe a physician finally referred them to a physical therapist after all else failed. Most individuals require 3-5 physician visits before being accurately diagnosed. The cost of medical care per year exceeds one billion dollars for these patients! 

According to several studies, about 85% of patients suffering from dizziness see improvement through physical therapy. According to Richard Clendaniel, PhD, PT, renowned expert in vestibular rehabilitation, early diagnosis and proper treatment can prevent serious injuries from falls and have a significant impact on decreasing the cost to our medical system. 

Vestibular Rehabilitation requires custom prescribed methods and custom treatment for each patient. 

We need to start a grass roots effort to educate the public about what therapy can do for their dizziness! 

Please share any efforts you have found successful in educating the public about therapy for vestibular disorders. 

How would you start a grass roots effort in your community about what therapy can offer these patients? 

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