Affiliations: [a] Department of Physical Medicine & Rehabilitation, McGovern Medical School at UTHealth, Houston, TX, USA
| [b] Department of Neurology, Dell Medical School at University of Texas, Austin, TX, USA
| [c] Pediatric Rehabilitation Medicine, Dell Children’s Hospital, Austin, TX, USA
Correspondence:
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Corresponding author: Glendaliz Bosques, MD, Associate Professor, Pediatric Rehabilitation Medicine, Department of Neurology, Dell Medical School at University of Texas; Chief of Pediatric Rehabilitation Medicine, Dell Children’s Hospital, 4910 Mueller Blvd, Suite 300, Austin, TX 78723, USA. E-mail: Glendaliz.Bosques@austin.utexas.edu.
Note: [1] Preliminary data presented at an oral presentation during 2019 American Academy of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation Pediatric Community Day.
Abstract: PURPOSE:Objectives included identifying programs that provide pediatric inpatient rehabilitation services (IPRs) across the United States (US), describing differences in location, admission criteria, available resources, personnel and staffing, and populations served between pediatric rehabilitation programs with the overall goal to evaluate rehabilitation needs in geographical areas with limited access for targeted program development. METHODS:Online survey emailed to pediatric physiatrists who worked or directed IPRs and completed between December 2018 to March 2019. RESULTS:Fifty respondents completed the survey of the seventy-one distributed. Fifty percent of pediatric inpatient rehabilitation services are within a free-standing pediatric hospital with an average of 14 beds. Twenty-eight programs provide acute services with almost half providing accredited specialized programming. All respondents reported that inpatient rehabilitation treatment teams included pediatric physiatry, nursing, social work, and core therapy disciplines. CONCLUSION:Although characteristics of pediatric inpatient rehabilitation services vary, similarities exist with respect to team composition, clinical coverage, admission or documentation criteria, and outcome measures. The geographic distribution of pediatric IPRs including available specialty programming reveals resource-limited areas. Results from this study emphasize how practice standards or fiscal limitations impact program structure, resources, and ultimately short- and long-term healthcare outcomes among the population of pediatric rehabilitation patients.
