Most patients prefer to recover at home rather than in a facility, but when that’s not possible, several factors dictate which type of post-acute facility they pick, a recent U.S. News and World Report survey found.
In January, U.S. News surveyed 206 individuals who were recently discharged from a hospital and needed to arrange post-acute care, as well as family members involved in care decisions.
Here are four findings from the survey:
1. While all of the patients received recommendations from the hospital on where to receive post-acute care, 94% also turned to at least one other source of information for guidance. The most popular sources were a hospital social worker or discharge planner (53%), primary care physician (38%) and online searches (35%).
2. Hospitals most often recommended post-acute care through home health (51%), outpatient therapy services (39%) or a skilled nursing facility (38%).
3. For patients and families, the most important factors when choosing a setting were cost and insurance coverage. The least important factors were the patient’s need for 24-hour medical supervision and convenience for family caregivers.
4. Forty-one percent of respondents said they strongly preferred recovery at home over a facility, 26% said they preferred the structure and supervision of a facility, and 33% said they had no preference and were focused only on the best medical outcome.
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