Intensive rehabilitation programs for the home, as opposed to in a rehabilitation facility or an outpatient facility, is "destined to become the standard of care in the very near future," reports Huffington Post.
Here are six key notes on home rehabilitation and the partnerships already in place to facilitate the programs:
1. Studies show home rehabilitation can be implemented for roughly 25 percent less cost than the equivalent stay at a rehab facility, translating to exponential savings as joint replacement surgeries will increase in the upcoming years.
2. The Journal of Bone and Joint Surgery also found that when frontloaded, home rehabilitation is equally as effective as an inpatient program, reports Huffington Post.
3. Patients reported being happier with the home programs because of comfort and familiarly of their environment and homes, Charles Cornell, MD, of Hospital for Special Surgery in New York City, told Huffington Post.
4. Roughly 800 HSS joint replacement patients received intensive home rehabilitation in 2014.
5. The program is a partnership with Visiting Nurse Service of New York, which uses careful preoperative screening to identify appropriate candidates before using a personal, patient-centered plan of care.
6. Between January and December 2014, the program resulted in a low 30-day re-hospitalization rate of 2.8 percent.