Patients, their family members and friends are often overwhelmed during care transitions so we have compiled some frequently asked questions about our transitional care hospitals. Whether you are a patient, loved one or healthcare professional, here are a few things about our transitional care hospitals you should know: Read Full Post

The typical stay at a traditional hospital is five days. At Kindred Transitional Care Hospitals, the length of stay may be measured in weeks, not days. Why? Because we know that not all patients can recover in five days or less. Some have underlying conditions that make illnesses or other conditions harder to treat. Others are still too ill to return home.

At Kindred Hospitals, we offer a range of services to help patients who need additional time to recover, and the length of the stay depends on the needs of the patient. This includes the specialized services of our Subacute Units, where we work with patients who have an acute illness or injury or worsening of a disease but no longer need the aggressive level of care provided in a hospital. We offer short-term comprehensive inpatient medical care and rehabilitation that is designed to get the patient home or to a facility such as a skilled nursing center.

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Just as there are different kinds of patients, there are different kinds of hospitals. Kindred Transitional Care Hospitals provide a wide range of services to help patients with complex medical issues who need additional recovery time after a stay at a traditional hospital. While every patient receives individualized care from a team of healthcare professionals, our goal is for each person to reach the highest level of recovery before discharge.

With our Direct Admit Program, physicians can admit medically complex patients from short-term acute care hospitals, skilled nursing facilities, home health and other service providers directly to a Kindred Hospital. We work directly with physicians to make sure their patients have a smooth transition into our hospitals and the highest level of care continuity to prevent future readmissions.

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When Edward came to a Kindred Hospital, he was on a ventilator after respiratory complications following major surgery. Edward is one of many patients who need extra care and more time to recover after a short-term hospital stay. Kindred Hospital is part of a nationwide network of Kindred Transitional Care Hospitals that help bridge the gap between short-term hospitalization and home.

Many of the patients we see can’t breathe on their own, or they have a condition that makes them prone to more complications with an illness or injury. Kindred Hospitals have been focused on these medically complex patients for more than two decades. We helped develop the long-term model of care for patients who can’t get better during a short-term stay. Our facilities and services are designed to provide this extra level of care, and every patient has a team of healthcare professionals dedicated to achieving the fullest and quickest recovery possible.

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The Bird ventilator, named for inventor Forrest Bird, was the first mass-produced mechanical vent, and it used compressed air technology and required no electrical power. Dr. Bird spoke at Kindred’s 2009 Clinical Impact Symposium, and signed the vent that is pictured and on display in the Kindred Support Center lobby.

Known by some as the “father of mechanical ventilation,” Dr. Bird tested his first mechanical ventilators by piloting his own planes to medical schools and asking doctors for access to their sickest patients. Patients who had tried all the available options and were expected to die of cardiopulmonary disease.

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Kindred Healthcare's commitment to our patients is to provide hope, healing and recovery and that means committing to using the latest technologies in pulmonary rehabilitation. Please take a moment to answer the polls and check back next week when we give you the full story on these two important advances in pulmonary rehab. In the meantime, scroll down to the comments and share your experience with these important pieces of history.

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An intervention known as noninvasive ventilation is being increasingly studied and used in patients with chronic respiratory failure. An article in a recent issue of the journal Respiratory Care, which followed a national symposium dedicated to the care of the chronically critically ill patient, examined its use in several patient populations. Noninvasive ventilation, or NIV, does not require an artificial airway, in contrast to tracheostomy (surgical creation of an airway through the neck) or the placement of a breathing tube through the nose or mouth. NIV is achieved most often through the delivery of pressure and flow to the normal airway through the nose and/or mouth.

The benefits of NIV therapy include reduced re-hospitalizations of out-patients and a reduction in potential complications such as infection that can occur with invasive ventilation techniques.

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October 21-27 is Respiratory Care Week, a week set aside to recognize respiratory therapists for their hard work and dedication. “The respiratory therapists at Kindred provide a wide range of respiratory care to patients with complex respiratory disorders and other extensive medical complexities,” says Kelly Bailey, Area Director of Respiratory Care, Kindred Healthcare. “Our respiratory therapists add value and expertise to the interdisciplinary team through the development, utilization, and implementation of best clinical practices and standardization.”

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Chronically critically ill patients, a population whose needs and challenges were the sole subject of a recent issue of the journal Respiratory Care, have a very high mortality rate, and survivors among the group suffer with severe impairments and functional dependence. For the caregivers of these patients, the effect can be devastating. According to one article in the journal, “it is difficult to imagine a group of patients with greater need for high-quality palliative care.”

This article points out that early integration of palliative care for these patients can be highly beneficial, particularly in helping patients and families define goals for care and manage the emotional issues that arise when a patient is chronically critically ill.

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The publication of the June 2012 issue of the journal Respiratory Care followed a national symposium dedicated to the “chronically critically ill patient,” the patient with ongoing costly medical interventions, risk for medical complications and death, and the need for extensive post-acute care services.  One article and subsequent discussion was devoted to the topic of liberating patients on prolonged mechanical ventilation, or PMV patients, from their need for this ongoing treatment. PMV is defined, in this article, as mechanical ventilation needed for at least 21 days.

We know there are barriers to weaning patients from PMV, but it can be argued that we haven’t formally studied them enough to know how to overcome them. The barriers may include age, identifying windows of opportunity for weaning, a concurrent condition known as critical illness neuromyopathy (CINM) and cardiac issues.

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