State-of-the-Science on Postacute Rehabilitation: Setting a Research Agenda and Developing an Evidence Base for Practice and Public Policy. An Introduction

Abstract

The Rehabilitation Research and Training Center on Measuring Rehabilitation Outcomes and Effectiveness along with academic, professional, provider, accreditor, and other organizations, sponsored a 2-day State-of-the-Science of Post-Acute Rehabilitation Symposium in February 2007. Its purpose was to serve as a catalyst for expanded research into rehabilitation postacute care (PAC) so that policy for such care is founded on a solid base of evidence. The goals were to: (1) describe the extent of current knowledge regarding utilization, organization, and outcomes of postacute rehabilitation settings, (2) identify methodologic and measurement challenges to conducting research, (3) foster the exchange of ideas among researchers, policy-makers, industry representatives, funding agency staffs, consumers, and advocacy groups, and (4) identify critical issues related to setting, delivery, payment, and effectiveness of rehabilitation services. Plenary presentations and state-of-the-science summaries were organized around 4 themes: (1) the need for improved measurement of key rehabilitation variables and methods to collect and analyze this information, (2) factors that influence access to postacute rehabilitation care, (3) similarities and differences in quality and quantity of services across PAC settings, and (4) effectiveness of postacute rehabilitation services. The full set of symposium articles, including recommendations for future research, appears in the November 2007 issue of the Archives of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation.

Get full access to this article

View all access options for this article.

References

Buntin

M. B.

(2007). Access to postacute rehabilitation. Archives of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation, 88, 1488–1493.

Chan

(2007). The state-of-the-science: Challenges in designing postacute care payment policy. Archives of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation, 88, 1522–1525.

Clohan

D. B.

Durkin

E. M.

Hammel

Murray

Whyte

Dijkers

. (2007). Postacute rehabilitation research and policy recommendations. Archives of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation, 88, 1535–1541.

Duncan

P. W.

Velozo

C. A.

(2007). State-of-the-science on post-acute rehabilitation: Measurement and methodologies for assessing quality and establishing policy for postacute care. Archives of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation, 88, 1482–1487.

Gage

(2007, February 13). Overview of the CMS patient assessment tool development study. Paper presented at the State of the Science Symposium on Post-Acute Rehabilitation: Setting a Research Agenda and Developing an Evidence Base for Practice and Public Policy, Arlington, VA.

Johnston

M. V.

Graves

Greene

(2007). The uniform postacute assessment tool: Systematically evaluating the quality of measurement evidence. Archives of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation, 88, 1505–1512.

Kane

R. L.

(2007). Assessing the effectiveness of postacute care rehabilitation. Archives of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation, 88, 1500–1504.

Kaplan

S. J.

(2007). Growth and payment adequacy of Medicare postacute care rehabilitation. Archives of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation, 88, 1494–1499.

Medicare Payment Advisory Commission. (2006, June). A data book: Healthcare spending and the Medicare Program. Retrieved February 8, 2007, from http://www.medpac.gov/publications/congressional_reports/Jun06DataBook_Entire_report.pdf.

10.

National Institute of Child Health and Human Development, National Institutes of Health. (2005, February 14–15). Workshop to develop a research agenda on appropriate settings for rehabilitation, Bethesda, MD. Retrieved February 8, 2007, from http://www.nichd.nih.gov/publications/pubs/upload/rehab_settings_2005.pdf.

11.

Ottenbacher

K. J.

Graham

J. E.

(2007). The state-of-the-science: Access to postacute care rehabilitation services. A review. Archives of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation, 88, 1513–1521.

12.

Bettger

Prvu J. A.

Stineman

M. G.

(2007). Effectiveness of multidisciplinary rehabilitation services in postacute care: State-of-the-science. A review. Archives of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation, 88, 1526–1534.