Subacute settings: making the most of a new model of care

Subacute programs care for individuals in various stages of acute illness and injury, usually after but sometimes instead of hospitalization for an acute episode. Typical reasons why older patients are hospitalized prior to subacute care include life-threatening conditions. Moreover, older patients tend to have one or more comorbidities related or unrelated to their primary acute condition. Therefore, an essential task for the physician is to assess each patient's medical stability within 24 to 48 hours of admission to subacute care. In subacute settings, interdisciplinary providers deliver a coordinated package of care. Physicians coordinate the medical treatments with the observations and input of nurses and providers in other disciplines who are managing patients' functional and psychosocial problems.