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4 Things You Should Know about Post Acute Care

Most patients don’t leave the hospital feeling 100 percent. Following hospitalisation for an injury, an illness, or surgery, most patients will require continued medical care, either in their own home or in a medical facility, such as assisted living or nursing home. This continued medical care is known as post acute care. The term post acute care refers to a range of medical care services, such as physical therapy, specialized support, monitoring of vitals, wound care, pain management, dietary management, psychiatric care, etc. These care services help an individual to recover from an illness, injury, or surgery once he or she has been discharged from the hospital. Here are four things that you should know about post acute care when welcoming a loved one home from the hospital.

1. Everyone needs care after a major operation or serious illness. Most patients require some kind of follow-up care after leaving the hospital. This follow-up care is designed to prevent infection, ensure proper pain management, and mitigate the risk of any kind of complications. All in all, the goal of post acute care is to keep every patient healthy so that he or she stays out of the hospital.

2. There is no universal post acute care plan. Every situation is different, and every patient faces unique health care challenges. Therefore, there is no one singular model of post acute care. Rather, an effective post acute care plan will take into consideration a range of patient specific factors, including age, the severity of the illness or surgical procedure from which the patient is recovering, overall wellness levels, etc.

3. Post acute care can be provided while a patient remains in his or her home. Most forms of post acute care, including wound care, rehabilitation therapy, and pain management, can be provided to a patient in his or her own home. This can maximise the comfort and security of the patient while also helping to integrate family members into caregiving roles, ensuring familial involvement and support.

4. Home health post acute care is the most cost effective. Though post acute care can occur in a nursing home, medical rehabilitation facility, or assisted living facility, a recent study of post acute care for elderly Medicare beneficiaries showed that home health post acute care was more cost effective than post acute care carried out is nursing home or rehabilitation facilities.

To find out more, visit our Care Assess Post Acute Program information page or give us a call on 1300 393 812.