Subacute care: an overview for acute care hospitals and systems

Defined in different ways by different organizations, subacute care offers providers the opportunity to manage high-resource patients more efficiently and effectively. Among subacute care providers, there is strong consensus that this modality represents a viable and necessary level of care. Within managed care circles, subacute care has engendered strong interest and support. Overall, subacute care will continue to grow and change the face of inpatient care as we know it. Subacute care will continue to be an important modality of care regardless of changes in applicable payment and certification mechanisms. Therefore, development of subacute care within a hospital or health system may be viewed as a strategy for moving the organization into the future as well as offering a prudent financial strategy today.