Too many rehab patients suffer harm, not help

And this is why everyone needs an advocate.

I ran across this article showing that while stroke rehabilitation services can provide a great deal of help, they can do harm as well. This is a great illustration that every stroke patient in a facility needs someone watching, and the facility personnel need to know that someone is watching.

So read how nearly 30% of rehab facility patients suffer care-related harm:

The Department of Health and Human Services' Office of Inspector General found that nearly 29% of Medicare beneficiaries admitted to inpatient rehab facilities experience an adverse event during their stay including healthcare-acquired infections, medication errors and pressure ulcers.

That rate places rehab hospitals — which require patients to have at least three hours of therapy per day, five days a week — just above the care-related harm rate for skilled nursing facilities. A 2014 OIG report found one in five skilled nursing patients suffered some type of adverse event during their stay.

OIG found 46% of adverse events in rehab hospitals to be “clearly or likely” preventable, compared to the 59% of events found to be preventable in the 2014 SNF report.