Ewa Bogacz, OT

Skilled Nursing Facility

A skilled nursing facility is a facility or distinct part of an institution whose primary function is to provide medical, continuous nursing, and other health and social services to patients who are not in an acute phase of illness requiring services in a hospital, but who require primary restorative or skilled nursing services on an inpatient basis above the level of intermediate or custodial care in order to reach a degree of body functioning to permit self care in essential daily living. It meets any licensing or certification standards et forth by the jurisdiction where it is located. A skilled nursing facility may be a freestanding facility or part of a hospital that has been certified by Medicare to admit patients requiring subacute care and rehabilitation; (2) Provides non-acute medical and skilled nursing care services, therapy and social services under the supervision of a licensed registered nurse on a 24-hour basis.

Rehabilitation Hospital Unit

In general, a distinct unit of a general acute care hospital that provides care encompassing a comprehensive array of restoration services for the disabled and all support services necessary to help patients attain their maximum functional capacity. Source: AHA Annual Survey p. A10 1996 AHA Guide. For Medicare, a distinct part of a general acute care hospital providing inpatient rehabilitation services that meets the following requirements. Rehabilitation Units have in effect a preadmission screening procedure under which each prospective patient's condition and medical history are reviewed to determine whether the patient is likely to benefit significantly from an intensive inpatient program or assessment; ensure that the patients receive close medical supervision and furnish, through the use of qualified personnel, rehabilitation nursing, physical therapy and occupational therapy, plus, as needed, speech therapy, social services or psychological services and orthotic and prosthetic services; have a plan of treatment for each inpatient that is established, reviewed, and revised as needed by a physician in consultation with other professional personnel who provide services to the patient; use a coordinated multidisciplinary team approach in the rehabilitation of each inpatient, as documented by periodic clinical entries made in the patient's medical record to note the patient's status in relationship to goal attainment, and that team conferences are held at least every two weeks to determine the appropriateness of treatment; have a director of rehabilitation who provides services to the unit and its inpatients for at least 20 hours a week, is a doctor of medicine or osteopathy, is licensed under State law to practice medicine or surgery, and has had, after completing a one-year hospital internship at least two years of training or experience in the medical management of inpatients requiring rehabilitation services.