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Clinical Programs

Skilled nursing providers continue to see a higher level of acuity patient coming to their facilities. It is critical that your therapy program has the necessary programs to meet the needs of these patients. Strong clinical outcomes will also become even more important under the new Patient Driven Payment Model (PDPM). Ultimate Rehab has a wide variety of clinical programs designed to meet the unique needs of a wide range of patients.

LTC Programming

GDS traffic light system
We have protocols and programs developed to ensure the individual needs of the long-term residents are met. These include the Global Deterioration Scale Traffic Light System that utilizes colors to give caregivers a better understanding of the patient’s cognition in order to prevent communication breakdowns, improve following direction, and anticipate needs.
Incontinence
We also work with the nursing staff on incontinence and toileting programs. The purpose is to improve continence through bladder training, toileting programs and exercises to improve control over bowel and bladder.
Contractures
Many residents may be at risk for contractures as a result of various diagnoses over the years. We work to eliminate/reduce loss of ROM and contractures to decrease pain, improve skin integrity and maintain function. We provide staff education on range of motion, positioning and splinting recommendations when appropriate.
Wheelchair
Therapists work to identify the individual needs of residents for custom wheelchairs to enhance mobility, positioning and reduce the potential for complications associated with requiring a wheelchair for mobility.

Mobility
Our therapists work with nursing and STNAs in order to educate staff on the individual mobility recommendations of each resident. This allows residents to maintain highest and safest level of mobility within long term care environment and works to improve efficiency of staff communication of resident decline by improving staff compliance with mobility and ROM programs.
Dysphagia Dining
Dysphagia dining programs are designed for carryover of safe swallowing strategies with nursing for patients with dysphagia or self-feeding issues.
Fall Management
Our therapists work with the IDT to address the reasons behind a resident who sustained a fall. We work to improve any deficits, implement adaptations and educate staff on the residents' abilities to ensure the resident is able to continue at their highest level of function while reducing their risk for future falls.
Restorative Nursing Programming
We work with nursing to assist in the identification, development, and training of staff for restorative nursing programs. This allows for maximal carryover from therapy programs as well as continuing to allow the patient to function at their highest level and maintain optimal quality of life.

Cardiac Programming

We have specially designed protocols that look at common cardiac impairments and resultant surgeries. Some of the more common diagnoses include coronary artery bypass graft (CABG), non-ST elevation myocardial infarction (NSTEMI), a-fib and/or pacemaker placement. These allow patients to progress in their functional abilities while monitoring and recovering from their recent cardiac episode.

Respiratory Programming

We have individualized respiratory protocols to provide comprehensive and consistent therapeutic services with implementation of best practices for patients with various respiratory diagnosis (including tracheostomy and ventilation) in order to successfully and efficiently return patient to highest practical level. Some of the diagnoses included are acute and/or chronic respiratory failure, COPD, pneumonia as well as the need for a tracheostomy or ventilator.

Orthopedic Programming

Our orthopedic pathways are developed to address the impairments that result after a patient has had an orthopedic procedure such as total shoulder replacement, total knee replacement, total hip replacement, or spinal surgery. These protocols allow the therapists to collaborate with the individual orthopedic surgeon’s plan and expectations of care.

Neurological Programming

Patients who have experienced a neurological event tend to have deficits that strongly vary from person to person. Our protocols focus on addressing these deficits through evidence-based best practices in order to successfully and efficiently return patient to highest practical level. Many diagnoses include stroke, multiple sclerosis, traumatic brain injuries, Parkinson’s disease, and Guillain-Barre. As with many protocols and pathways, interdisciplinary collaboration is key in the success of obtaining these patients’ highest level of function.

Groups and Concurrent

We have protocols developed to assist in identifying and implementing both group and concurrent therapies. They are designed to look at the individual characteristics of the patients and allow the therapist to identify when these patients would benefit from group or concurrent therapy.

Speech Therapy

Our speech therapists are trained to perform cognitive rehab, speech and language therapy, and dysphagia management. They use various techniques and compensatory mechanisms to address the individual patient’s deficits and impairments. Our therapists have various specialties including VitalStim® certified providers, significant experience with ventilators and tracheostomies, training in myofascial release as well as communication devices.