Question

Nursing Home and Subacute Care
During the nineteenth and the twentieth century, the term "nursing home" was synonymous with long-term care. Although today the exclusive use of the term "long-term care" is no longer accurate for nursing homes, it continues to remain and will not change easily. However, newer terms such as "nursing facilities" will help clarify the role of specific long-term care organizations and will differentiate them from others in the health care industry.

Subacute care is a relatively new but rapidly growing medical service in the continuum of care. Today, it is considered the fastest growing segment of the health care delivery system.

Research the online references such as EBSCOhost, SocINDEX, Cumulative Index to Nursing and Allied Health Literature (CINAHL), or PubMed for information on nursing facilities and subacute units and respond to the following questions:

What are subacute units? How did subacute care emerge? What are the strengths and limitations of the emergence of subacute care in long-term care as related to issues in levels of patients' acuity (various levels of nursing care based on the needs of patients)? Support your answer with relevant examples.

What is the impact of subacute care on the cost and quality of care? Do you think subacute care needs to be an integral component of hospitals, or should it be an integral part of the long-term care system? Provide a rationale for your answer.

Answer 1

1.They are units which provide complex care and rehabilitation to the patients.It is otherwise known as transitional care.It provides transition of patient from hospital to home ,helping them in recuperation process.

2..Subacute care emerged from 3 segments such as acute care hospital,rehabilitation hospitals and nursing homes.It came into existence when a suitable care was not available to move the the patient when their existing level is not good.

3 The strengths are -they provide continuity of care to patients who need intensive care but not requiring hospitalization.They provide rehabilitation services,specialized care for stroke and diabetes as well as post-surgical care.Subacute care in hospital focuses on the return of the patient back to their residence and gain independence.They also assist the patients to manage everyday activities by themselves.It is intended for patients who require short stay after hospitalization where they recieve close medical monitoring

Limitations -Subacute care settings are costly.They provide only shorter stays and provide short term treatment.During transferring of patients from one setting to another transaction costs are charged.Eg For shifting patients to another unit ambulance charges are incured.

3.Sub acute care setting is considered as a high-cost care setting.There will be a decrease in the pricing for sub-acute care setting once public and private sectors start accepting it..The common method for describing costs in sub acute care setting is in terms of costs per patient dayThe costs and savings of subacute care varies in disease categories.For some categories there will be cost savings while for some diagnosis of diseases there will be increaded costs

4.Sub acute care settings should be made an integral part of hospital and develop an approach in which hospitals forms a hospital subacute care organization with a long-term care provider.Incorporating subacute care within the continuum of services can have specific and immediate payoffs for patients and providers alike .Sub acute care centres need more skilled staff to provide quality care.So that patients can use the services directly from the subacute care setting offered by the hospital.