Give your patients the best possible care

Think of a physiatrist as a medical doctor specializing in rehabilitation. A physiatrist, or physical medicine and rehabilitation specialist, is trained in the diagnosis and treatment of patients with physical, functionally limiting, and/or painful conditions. They provide patient-centered care to maximize independence and mobility—helping patients to return patients to their roles in society. Learn more about physiatry.

Think of a physiatrist like you would think of a cardiologist, a pulmonologist or a psychologist—these professionals all bring specific expertise to ultimately improve patient care. Like a cardiologist, an NHR physiatrist does not replace your primary care physicians or other medical doctors in your center. Instead, they work alongside your doctors to increase physician presence and communication, and improve patient outcomes.

For example, many of our physician partners use our physiatrists to promote reduction of opioid load. Our physiatrists are well versed in pain management and often take the role of writing these opioids prescriptions, easing that burden from the primary care team.

Aside from medical management, our physiatrists are also well versed in procedures and will often perform bedside injections aimed at reducing dependence on medications and promoting participation in therapy.

NHR physiatrists provide clinical support for your therapy staff, coordinating acute-level care for patients in your sub-acute setting and advocating for appropriate lengths of stay.

No one wants to send patients home before they’ve returned to their prior level of function. The reality is that insurance companies and hospitals tend to push for discharge before patients have reached this milestone. Our physiatrists provide support, communication and documentation to help your therapy team advocate for appropriate lengths of stay. We also help your therapy team coordinate each patient’s plan of care for optimal outcomes within a constrained time period.

Your center can help a variety of patients achieve better outcomes with physiatry. Consult a physiatrist for patients…

• With impaired physical and/or cognitive function in active rehabilitation
• In specialized programs or by rehab diagnosis (spinal cord injury, TBI, cardiopulmonary, stroke, orthopedic, amputee, LVAD, cancer)
• With decline in function due to spasticity, focal or generalized weakness, loss of sensation, pain, or cognitive issues
• With specialized adaptive equipment or DME needs (prosthetics and orthotics, specialized wheelchairs or powered mobility devices, or other specialized adaptive equipment needs)
• With pain management issues
• Who fall or have significant risk of falling

Our physiatrists work in your center to treat conditions like:

Post Orthopedic Rehabilitation

• Post-procedural pain
• Spasms
• Fracture management
• Weight-bearing advancement
• Contracture prevention
• Fall risk
• DVT prevention Safe discharge plan home

Post Neurological (Stroke/SCI/TBI) Rehabilitation

• Spasticity/tone management
• Neurogenic bowel/bladder
• Complex regional pain syndrome
• Neuropathic pain
• Hemiparesis
• Speech/swallow/cognition
• Safe disposition plan

Debility/Chronic Condition Exacerbation Rehabilitation

• Acute and chronic pain
• Arthritic spine and joint pain
• Back/neck pain
• Weakness/muscle wasting and atrophy
• Wound/ulcer pain
• Cancer pain
• Contracture management
• Fall prevention

Cardio/Pulmonary Rehabilitation

• Classification of functional pulmonary disability and dysfunction
• Cardiac functional classification
• Metabolic equivalents (METS) prescribed therapy
• Nutritional state
• Aspiration risk
• Exercise parameters (target HR, RR, BP, O2 saturation)
• Cardiac and pulmonary precautions
• Reintegration to community plan

In addition to advancing patient care, NHR’s physiatry services help you to turn your nursing home into a modern, well-respected, and profitable skilled nursing center—so you can keep caring for more people. We can help you improve upon your key quality outcomes, improve your internal revenue sources, and differentiate yourself from other facilities without physiatry programs.

Our physiatrists provide the communication and documentation necessary to combat stalled reimbursements, advocate for appropriate lengths of stays, reduce unplanned discharges, and more.

NHR physicians also fill a crucial role in providing the clinical information and ICD coding you need to be paid appropriately under PDPM. You need to ensure that your ICD-10 codes are as accurate and specific as possible—without undue time burden. NHR physiatrists are specifically trained in coding for PDPM in order to capture all necessary information for accurate patient classification and ultimately the correct per diem payment.

Our physiatrists work to improve your patient outcomes at no cost to your center.