By Lisa Henderson, MBA
Regional Director of Business Development for the Thrive Centers
Selecting a provider for short-term rehab can be a daunting task and asking the right questions is key to making an informed decision. Most often, patients and families are given pages of facilities to choose from and don’t know where to even start. I frequently find myself fielding questions from potential guests, friends and relatives about where to begin when making a choice. Listed below are my essential questions when identifying a Skilled Nursing Facility (SNF) for short-term rehab. Thrive Personalized Medical Rehabilitation Centers have all been designed with these questions in mind and the overarching theme of getting you healthy and out the door with no frills about it. I hope you take a moment to look at these questions below and reach out to us at www.ThriveAhead.com if you are interested in learning more:
Key Questions:
- What are their staffing ratios? For RNs? For CNAs?
- Is the building Joint Commission accredited?
- What is their Medicare (CMS) star rating?
- You can visit CMS to find out: https://data.medicare.gov/data/home-health-compare
- Who is their medical director? Are they affiliated with the local hospital system?
- What is their average length of stay?
- How do they notify patients of their discharge? How do they notify families?
- Who is their 911 hospital?
- FYI, if you are stable enough, you can go to the hospital of your choice.
- Who are the internal medicine physicians on staff there? Are they affiliated with any local hospital systems?
- Do they have specialty physician oversight and clinical programs?
- Check to see if any or all apply (like Thrive has)
- Wound care
- Cardiac care
- Pulmonologist
- Infection Disease
- Nephrology
- Physiatry
- Check to see if any or all apply (like Thrive has)
- Is their therapy provided in-house?
- How often can you get therapy?
- Do they provide therapy seven days a week? Does that include weekend days?
- How soon after arriving are you evaluated for therapy?
- Do they have registered dietitian (RD) oversight?
- What is their current policy with COVID-19?
- Are they allowing visitors?
- How often are they testing employees?
- How often are they testing patients?
No matter where you choose, the admissions department at any facility should be welcoming and forthcoming when it comes to providing background information on their organization. Results from past Illinois Department of Public Health (IDPH) surveys are available to the general public if you feel there is a need to look deeper into a potential option.
At Thrive, we ask ourselves many of these questions every day to make sure we are offering the best possible care to our guests. Within the first 48 hours of staying with us, you are provided with a tentative discharge date that reflects the goals of your stay. You can expect that while you are our guest, the staff will treat you with respect and kindness, the food you eat will not only be healthy but taste great too. But most importantly, you will leave our center feeling better than how you got there.
