Transitions of Care – What Are They and Why Should We Care?

By Stan Smith, MBA, Senior Vice President – Sentinel Services, Prodigy Care Services

A critical set of healthcare events requiring the attention of workers’ compensation payers and post-acute care (PAC) providers occurs before injured workers ever arrive at the providers’ doorsteps. Broadly characterized as transitions of care or care transitions, these events are defined as “the movement patients make between health care practitioners and settings as their condition and care needs change during the course of a chronic or acute illness.”

Workers’ compensation payers have traditionally looked to PAC providers for quality treatment outcomes after the injured worker has been admitted to their treatment settings. These are provided across the PAC healthcare continuum from long-term acute care hospitals, rehab hospitals, residential brain and spinal cord injury centers, and skilled nursing facilities (SNFs) to home health care.… continue reading on WorkCompWire.