Finding Rehab Success: 
Key Benefits of Partnership

The current strain on America’s health system has led many healthcare providers to seek partnership from dedicated experts. This is especially true for rehabilitation. Finding greater expertise and support through a joint venture or acute rehabilitation management can result in significant quality improvement, cost savings and high-demand service line optimization. While the healthcare landscape has never been more challenging, this is a time of great opportunity.

This article outlines how finding rehab partnership through a joint venture or unit management can support healthcare providers, the key qualities to look for in a partner and the top questions to ask a potential partner.

The Advantages of Support from a Rehab Partner

Healthcare executives find partnerships preferable for a few key reasons, according to a survey by Deloitte.¹ These reasons include:

1. Lower post-acute expenditures. The most effective partners can improve financial throughput and improve cash on hand by reducing several critical cost factors, including emergency room visits, lengths of stay, readmissions and claim denials.
2. Enhanced overall performance with fewer in-house resources. Partners are able to share the responsibility for program infrastructure, allowing providers to maximize their program value and minimize up-front costs.
3. Increased patient access and improved employee retention.
4. Greater scale and speed to market. Partners have national rehab data and resources to ensure providers are able to quickly adapt and meet growing demands, such as what we’ve seen from the COVID-19 pandemic and changes in patient population.

In a survey of healthcare executives, partnership was preferred over solely owned post-acute providers.¹ Reasons included:

     • Improved patient experience
     • Reduced capital expenditure
     • Scalability
     • Speed to market
     • Ability to focus on core competencies

Top 5 Qualities That Make a Great Acute Rehab Partner

While the benefits are clear, not all partners are created equal. When evaluating a potential partner, the following five qualities are key indicators of long-term success.

1. Clinical and Quality Effectiveness
   Providers should look for partners who have experience helping programs achieve top quality certifications, such as the Commission on Accreditation of Rehabilitation Facilities (CARF) and The Joint Commission. Partners must be able to demonstrate clinical effectiveness with reduced readmission rates and better patient outcomes. Achieving high standards, like CARF, also helps your program stand out from others and can increase annual patients served by 26%.²
2. Proven Track Record in Quickly Adapting to Industry Challenges and Optimizing Performance Based on Need
   Suitable partners have already achieved impressive results for other healthcare providers, including helping them rebound faster than the industry from COVID-19. Having access to national rehab data and best practices while also having the flexibility to quickly adapt programs based on changes to the environment further strengthens an already proven track record.
3. Robust Network of Medical Directors
   Rehab programs are already being impacted by the growing talent shortage. Strong medical directors are a key component to any successful program, but are hard to identify and retain. Partners must have a strong network of medical directors who are focused on provider engagement.

4. Patient Throughput Management
   An effective partner should have a well-organized system for efficiently moving patients through phases of care. Careful management ensures that patients enter rehab at the right time in their care journey and stay for the appropriate amount of time. Achieving this reduces readmission rates, lowers per-patient costs and increases patient satisfaction.
5. Expert Regulatory and Compliance Team
   The current changing regulatory environment makes it challenging to assure compliance. An ideal partner will be up to the task with a highly competent regulatory and compliance team who specializes in rehab. They should be able to keep abreast of the latest changes and prepare for regulation expansions, navigating the system’s intricacies to reduce denials.

Find Your Ideal Rehab Partner

Receiving support from a third-party team of rehab experts enables healthcare providers to reach the highest levels of performance in this niche and highly-regulated space. This allows them to best serve patients recovering from COVID-19, optimize hospital operations and efficiency, and improve overall patient satisfaction and care quality. Kindred Hospital Rehabilitation Services (KHRS) serves over 150 hospital-based rehab programs, optimizing program features ranging from infection control and clinical best practices around COVID-19, to staffing and appeals. Their accomplishments include successful appeal of 90% of all claims they manage, as well as a 99% reduction of management vacancies.

Finding the Right Partner: Key Questions to Ask

Further assess the quality of a potential partner by asking targeted questions: