A transitional rehabilitation facility is a skilled nursing facility that provides care and therapy to Medicare A and private insurance patients only. A transitional rehabilitation facility does not provide long-term care and normally does not have licensure to serve the Medicaid population. The majority of patient stays in transitional rehabilitation facilities is under 30 days; however, some patients stay longer than 30 days because their illness or circumstance deems that necessary. Generally, admission into a transitional rehabilitation facility is so that a patient can receive in-patient, skilled therapy. Physical therapy, Occupational therapy, and Speech therapy are all performed in-house by trained, certified therapists i.e. Physical Therapists, Physical Therapy Assistants, Occupational Therapists, Certified Occupational Therapy Assistants, and Speech Therapists. Some transitional rehabilitation facilities also utilize therapy aides to help in the transportation of patients to and from their rooms, therapy data entry, and various other non-skilled duties. Therapy can be given up to 7 days a week and normally lasts up to three hours a day, depending on the ability and endurance of the patient. Transitional rehabilitation facilities have 24 hour a day nursing coverage. The facility need only have 8 hours a day of registered nursing coverage and the rest of the day can be covered with LPN nurses, if that is preferred. However, if a facility would like registered nurses 24 hours a day, they may be able to take care of more complex patients, such as wound-vacs and I.V. antibiotics. If the transitional rehabilitation facility has 24 hour a day R.N. nursing coverage, the facility would also be able to accept General In-Patient (GIP) hospice patients. A GIP hospice patient is essentially a Medicare A hospice patient. A hospice candidate must meet certain criteria in order to be deemed GIP and this type of hospice generally only lasts 7-10 days. The facility and the hospice company work together to manage the care and well-being of the patient while at the transitional rehabilitation facility. Transitional rehabilitation facilities are the new wave of Medicare A covered stays within the skilled nursing facility world. As of now, the Health Department for the State of Utah has put into place a moratorium limiting the building of these free-standing Medicare-only facilities. The moratorium is set to sunset in 2012; however, the moratorium will more than likely be reinstated at that time.
