RehabCare, the rehabilitation division of Kindred Healthcare and the largest employer of rehabilitation therapists in the United States, is partnering with Bellarmine University of Louisville to establish a clinical residency program that will prepare students with specialized training and leadership skills needed to care for older, more vulnerable patients. The program will focus on training physical therapists and is one of just 12 of its kind in the country.

Healthy Aging Month is a time to focus on the positives of aging as well as the steps we can take to meet the challenges associated with getting older. As we experience changes in health, physical condition and medication regimens, it is imperative that we take falls more seriously.

Kindred Healthcare, RehabCare’s parent company, took the opportunity to comment recently on proposed changes to the timeframe of therapy assessments for home health patients. Kindred advocated for therapy reassessments to be conducted every 30 calendar days.

A slowing gait could be one of the first observable changes in people who will develop Alzheimer’s disease and/or dementia.

In early August, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services issued a final rule impacting rules and reimbursement for Skilled Nursing Facilities effective October 1, 2014. Of particular interest to RehabCare – and our parent company, Kindred – was the ongoing discussion of the development of a new methodology for paying for therapy services received in the SNF.

The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) issued a final rule detailing Inpatient Rehabilitation Facility (IRF) Medicare policies and payment rates which go into effect at the start of fiscal year 2015 on October 1, 2014. As we previously reported, RehabCare took the opportunity to respond to CMS’ earlier proposed rule to advocate on behalf of IRF-level care and those patients who benefit from such care. Read about the final rule and RehabCare's comments.

PEPPER reports were issued last fall by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services to highlight areas in which facilities are at risk for improper Medicare reimbursement. Have you accessed yours?

Don’t forget that today RehabCare and McKnight’s Long-Term Care News present “Maintaining Function Beyond Therapy: Ensuring Effective and Efficient Transitions.” Take the opportunity to join our webinar and learn more about what Jimmo vs. Sebelius means for your rehab department and how successful wellness programs can help patients preserve gains made during therapy.

Together with McKnight’s Long-Term Care News, RehabCare is presenting a webinar on July 30: “Maintaining Function Beyond Therapy: Ensuring Effective and Efficient Transitions.” Please join us!

RehabCare Advantage published a series of posts about our favorite mobile applications beginning in 2012. Our therapists continue to reap the benefits of using apps on their company mobile devices while delivering care, so we want to provide an update with some can’t-miss apps. Mobile applications have tremendous opportunities to make therapy engaging while saving paper. Adults and children alike can benefit from the use of apps in therapy. These are a few mobile applications that come highly recommended by RehabCare therapists and other clinicians.