These patients are often chronically critically ill, most commonly recovering from a hospitalization that included an intensive care unit stay. Long-term acute care hospitals care for medically complex patients expected to require care for weeks to months.Health care utilization after entering long-term care is high-a study by the Office of the Inspector General (OIG) found that nearly 25% of Medicare SNF residents require hospitalization each year.Įach type of long-term care setting provides different services and is suitable for different types of patients: Patients requiring care in long-term care facilities are disproportionately older and chronically ill, and they often enter long-term care after an acute hospitalization. Patients in long-term care settings may be particularly vulnerable to safety problems in the course of their care.
There were more than 1.6 million residents of SNFs in 2011, and long-term acute care hospitals admissions among Medicare beneficiaries have more than doubled over the past 15 years. These settings include skilled nursing facilities (SNFs), inpatient rehabilitation facilities, and long-term acute care hospitals. Yet a large and growing number of Americans who do not require hospital-level care but are unable to be safely cared for at home reside in settings referred to as long-term care. The patient safety field has primarily focused on improving safety in hospital and ambulatory settings.
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