National Honors for Inpatient Rehabilitation
Last summer, The Rehabilitation Institute at Southwest Healthcare Palmdale Regional Medical Center earned a three-year accreditation by the Commission on Accreditation of Rehabilitation Facilities International.
This past February, the good news kept coming. The Rehabilitation Institute ranked in the top 10% of 861 qualifying inpatient rehabilitation facilities IRF database of Netsmart Technologies, Inc. for cases discharged between October 2022 and September 2023.
CARF Accreditation
CARF International is an independent, nonprofit accreditor of health and human services. Founded in 1966 as the Commission on Accreditation of Rehabilitation Facilities, and now known as CARF International, it establishes consumer-focused standards to help organizations measure and improve the quality of their programs and services.
Achieving three-year accreditation, the highest level, signifies an organization’s adherence to strict CARF standards. To earn it, the Institute underwent a thorough peer review, demonstrating its dedication to delivering measurable, accountable, and high-quality programs and services during an onsite evaluation by a team of surveyors.
Thomas Nasser, DO, is Medical Director of The Rehabilitation Institute at Palmdale Regional Medical Center. He says that the CARF accreditation is a win-win for the hospital and its patients.
“It gives us a distinction that we’re holding a degree of quality care that we’re really trying to pursue as an organization. Not everybody gets to be CARF accredited,” Dr. Nassar explains. “It’s a very good measuring stick that patients can look at and choose Palmdale Regional over another particular place because we’re meeting the standard of care in the nation.”
Netsmart Ranking
Palmdale Regional’s Rehabilitation Institute is proud to have achieved ranking in the top 10% of 861 qualifying inpatient rehabilitation facilities IRF database of Netsmart Technologies, Inc.
The rankings were determined using Netsmart’s program evaluation model, which adjusts for the types and severity of cases. This tool gives facilities a score based on their overall performance compared to most IRFs nationwide.
Netsmart’s PEM Version 2 Report Card uses data from the Inpatient Rehabilitation Facility Patient Assessment Instrument, a tool from the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services. This tool measures efficiency and effectiveness under the Inpatient Rehabilitation Facility Prospective Payment System and Inpatient Rehabilitation Facility Quality Reporting Program.
The goal of the PEM Version 2 Report Card is to recognize top-performing facilities for delivering high-quality patient care that is effective, efficient, timely and focused on the patient’s needs.
“With this evaluation model, we can take this information and reshape what we’re doing on a day-to-day basis,” Dr. Nassar says. “That’s why we love the program so much, but the fact that we were able to utilize that and score so well tells us that what we’re doing is good and accurate.”
About the Rehabilitation Institute
The Rehabilitation Institute at Palmdale Regional provides extensive inpatient rehabilitation services for individuals recovering from brain injury, stroke, orthopedic issues, neurological conditions and other ailments requiring inpatient rehabilitation before discharge.
The goal is to help patients regain function and improve quality of life. The Rehabilitation Institute is home to 27 private patient rooms, as well as designated areas for training and activities. Patients receive individualized care from a skilled therapy team that includes nurses, pain management specialists, and physical, occupational and speech therapists.
Patients also have access to advanced technology like the Vector Gait and Safety System®, a ceiling-mounted gait and safety system that can help improve mobility and balance while promoting a faster recovery.
Thanks to the Institute, the community does not have to travel out of the area for specialized rehabilitation care. The closest facilities offering these services are inconveniently located over 40 miles from the Antelope Valley.
According to Dr. Nassar, the staff working at The Rehabilitation Institute have no plans to rest on their laurels after earning the CARF accreditation and the high ranking by Netsmart.
“We all want to grow and become better at what we’re doing,” he says. “It just makes for such a fantastic team that these people love doing rehab. They love taking care of patients, and it shows in our product.”
Listen to Dr. Nassar discuss The Rehabilitation Institute’s achievements >