title: Implementation of rehabilitation medicine consultant recommendations in acute care: a pilot evaluation.
abstract: Limited data exist regarding rehabilitation medicine consultation services in the acute-care hospital setting. We examined implementation rates of rehabilitation consultant recommendations in a university hospital with either a rotating physician service or a single advanced-practice nurse. We performed a retrospective chart review of all patients evaluated by a rehabilitation consultation service for 2 months at a single 300-bed hospital: The first month with rotating physicians (MP) and the second month with a single advanced-practice nurse (SP). Total consultations/recommendations were similar during the 2 months (MP-63/251, SP-68/240, respectively). The overall implementation rate was greater during the month with the SP (SP-74%, MP-47%), although implementation was similar for discharge disposition (MP-82%, SP-85%). In this university hospital, rehabilitation consultation recommendations were more frequently implemented with a single-provider consultation service. Further study of rehabilitation consultation services is needed, including evaluation of nonphysician consultants.
authors.affiliation: Department of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation, University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences, Little Rock, AR, USA. pmkortebein@uams.edu
authors.forename: Patrick
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Kortebein
authors.forename: Matthew
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Goodwin
authors.forename: Audra
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Arant
mesh_terms: D057179:Advanced Practice Nursing; D001131:Arkansas; D006284:Health Plan Implementation; D006785:Hospitals, University; D006801:Humans; D010347:Patient Care Planning; D010351:Patient Discharge; D010865:Pilot Projects; D020127:Recovery of Function; D012017:Referral and Consultation; D012046:Rehabilitation; D019145:Rehabilitation Nursing; D012189:Retrospective Studies