Abstract
We examined the communication between recovery rehabilitation hospitals and acute hospitals in terms of access to functional prognosis information of patients at discharge. We enrolled 240 stroke patients (153 men and 87 women) who used the local critical pathway in this study. Collection and completeness of used local critical pathways, physical and cognitive function at transfer, improvement in recovery rehabilitation hospitals, and final outcome were investigated. As results, 46 (22.5%) and 33 (16.2%) pathways were found to be incomplete in acute and recovery rehabilitation hospitals, respectively. Time to transfer to a recovery rehabilitation hospital was 29.5±14.2 days. Mean length of stay in a recovery rehabilitation hospital was 101.1±57.0 days. After discharge, 143 patients (74.5%) returned home, 13 (6.8%) entered a convalescent ward or hospital, 29 (15.1%) went to a nursing care facility, and 7 (3.6%) had other outcomes. There was obvious difference in mean length of stay and ADL improvement per day (FIM efficiency) among the referred recovery rehabilitation hospitals. In conclusion, all healthcare facilities using the local critical pathway need to have a common recognition of stroke rehabilitation. By using the local critical pathway network system, rehabilitation staff in acute hospitals should proactively contribute to the qualitative improvement of rehabilitation in stroke patients during the recovery period.
