Effectiveness of multidisciplinary rehabilitation services in postacute care: state-of-the-science. A review

Special communications: state-of-the-science on postacute rehabilitation: setting a research agenda and developing an evidence base for practice and public policy. An introduction

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. The aim of this symposium was to serve as a catalyst for expanded research on postacute care (PAC) rehabilitation so that health policy is founded on a solid evidence base. The goals were to: (1) describe the state of our 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, policymakers, industry representatives, funding agency staff, consumers, and advocacy groups; and (4) identify critical questions related to setting, delivery, payment, and effectiveness of rehabilitation services. Plenary presentation and state-of-the-science summaries were organized around four 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, appear in Archives of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation.

State-of-the-science on postacute rehabilitation: setting a research agenda and developing an evidence base for practice and public policy: an introduction

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. The aim of this symposium was to serve as a catalyst for expanded research on postacute care (PAC) rehabilitation so that health policy is founded on a solid evidence base. The goals were to (1) describe the state of our 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 staff, consumers, and advocacy groups, and (4) identify critical issues related to setting, delivery, payment, and effectiveness of rehabilitation services. Plenary presentation and state-of-the-science summaries were organized around four 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, appear in Archives of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation.

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

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.

State-of-the-science on postacute rehabilitation: setting a research agenda and developing an evidence base for practice and public policy. an introduction

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 this issue of the Archives of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation.

State of the science on postacute rehabilitation: setting a research agenda and developing an evidence base for practice and public policy: an introduction

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. The aim of this symposium was to serve as a catalyst for expanded research on postacute care (PAC) rehabilitation so that health policy is founded on a solid evidence base. The goals were to: (1) describe the state of our 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, policymakers, industry representatives, funding agency staff, consumers and advocacy groups, and (4) identify critical questions related to setting, delivery, payment and effectiveness of rehabilitation services. Plenary presentation and state-of-the-science summaries were organized around four 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, appear in Archives of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation.

State-of-the-Science on Postacute Rehabilitation: setting a research agenda and developing an evidence base for practice and public policy--an introduction

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. The aim of this symposium was to serve as a catalyst for expanded research on postacute care (PAC) rehabilitation so that health policy is founded on a solid evidence base. The goals were: (1) to describe the state of our knowledge regarding utilization, organization, and outcomes of postacute rehabilitation settings, (2) to identify methodologic and measurement challenges to conducting research, (3) to foster the exchange of ideas among researchers, policymakers, industry representatives, funding agency staff, consumers, and advocacy groups, and (4) to identify critical issues related to setting, delivery, payment, and effectiveness of rehabilitation services. Plenary presentation 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, appear in Archives of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation.

State-of-the-science symposium on postacute rehabilitation: setting a research agenda and developing an evidence base for practice and public policy executive summary

PURPOSE

The Rehabilitation Research and Training Center on Measuring Rehabilitation Outcomes and Effectiveness along with academic, professional, provider, and accreditor organizations sponsored a symposium with the aim of serving as a catalyst for expanded research on postacute care (PAC) rehabilitation. The goals were to describe the state of our knowledge regarding utilization, organization, and outcomes of postacute rehabilitation settings, identify methodological and measurement challenges, foster the exchange of ideas among stakeholders, and identify researchable questions.

METHOD

The symposium was organized around 4 themes: (a) the need for improved measurement of rehabilitation variables and methods to collect and analyze this information, (b) factors that influence access to rehabilitation care, (c) similarities and differences in services across PAC settings, and (d) effectiveness of rehabilitation services.

RESULTS

Key themes included the need for improved measures, particularly of case-mix factors and treatment ingredients; the need for a uniform and coherent system of PAC; the need to attend to under- and overutilization of rehabilitation services; the need for cooperation among stakeholders to advance an effectiveness research agenda; and the desire to develop payment policies that are based on research evidence.

CONCLUSIONS

The symposium articles appear in the November 2007 issue of Archives of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation.

State-of-the-science on postacute rehabilitation: setting a research agenda and developing an evidence base for practice and public policy. An introduction

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 Postacute Rehabilitation Symposium in February 2007. The aim of this symposium was to serve as a catalyst for expanded research on postacute care (PAC) rehabilitation so that health policy is founded on a solid evidence base. The goals were to (a) describe the state of our knowledge regarding utilization, organization, and outcomes of postacute rehabilitation settings, (b) identify methodologic and measurement challenges to conducting research, (c) foster the exchange of ideas among researchers, policy makers, industry representatives, funding agency staff, consumers, and advocacy groups, and (d) identify critical questions related to setting, delivery, payment, and effectiveness of rehabilitation services. Plenary presentation and state-of-the-science summaries were organized around 4 themes: (a) the need for improved measurement of key rehabilitation variables and methods to collect and analyze this information, (b) factors that influence access to postacute rehabilitation care, (c) similarities and differences in quality and quantity of services across PAC settings, and (d) effectiveness of postacute rehabilitation services. The full set of symposium articles, including recommendations for future research, appear in Archives of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation.