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What is Post-Acute Care?

After your hospital stay, you may need further care to meet your health needs. This type of care is called post-acute care. For more information on post-acute care, please contact your discharge planner, case manager, or social worker.

Common Post-Acute Care Services:

Home Health: Home health care is a wide range of health care services that can be given in your home for an illness or injury. Home health care helps you get better, regain your independence, and become as self-sufficient as possible.

Hospice: Hospice offers specialized care and support to individuals, their families, and caregivers during an advanced illness. The focus of hospice is on comfort and quality of life, rather than cure.

Inpatient Rehabilitation Facility: Inpatient rehabilitation facilities provide intensive rehabilitation programs for patients with conditions like stroke or brain injury who need intensive medical rehabilitation (up to 3 hours per day) after a hospital stay.

Long-Term Acute-Care Hospital: Long-term acute-care hospitals specialize in treating patients who may have more than one serious condition, but who may improve with time and care, and return home.

Skilled Nursing Facility: Nursing homes provide skilled care to people who can't be cared for at home and need 24-hour nursing care. Skilled care includes skilled nursing or rehabilitation services to manage, observe, or assess a resident's care. Examples of skilled care include occupational therapy, wound care, intravenous (IV) therapies, and physical therapy.

For more information regarding types of care, please visit https://www.medicare.gov/.

What is the Northwestern Medicine Post-Acute Care Provider Network?

Choosing a post-acute care provider can feel overwhelming. To help you make the choice that is right for you, Northwestern Medicine has put together a network of caregivers that specialize in post-acute care. The network focuses on providing safe, high-quality care, close to home.

• High-quality care
• Safety
• Locations close to home

Northwestern Medicine's goal is to provide a high quality, convenient, seamless and cost-effective experience at all levels of care consistent with our commitment to placing Patients First. NM will achieve this through a network of like-minded post-acute care providers that are NM owned or aligned. The network will focus on developing relationships between sites of care through:

• Guiding patients through all levels of care
• Improving access to high quality care
• Connecting providers across the care continuum

Your Care, Your Choice

You are not obligated to use a Northwestern Medicine Post-acute Care Provider. Though we recommend these network providers, your choice for post-acute care will be respected. To review a full list of available post-acute providers, please ask your case manager, discharge planner, or social worker, or click here. Our team will work with you to find a provider that meets your needs.

Who is in the Network?

Providers in the Northwestern Medicine Post-acute Care Provider Network were selected with the help of physicians, nurses, social workers and other quality experts. Each network provider meets and maintains high standards for quality care, and performs well on quality rating systems. These providers specialize in meeting your care needs after you leave the hospital. They include:

• Home Health
• Hospice
• Inpatient Rehabilitation Hospitals
• Long Term Acute Care Facilities
• Skilled Nursing Facilities

Post-acute Care Provider Participation

Providers participate in the Northwestern Medicine Post-acute Care Provider Network on a voluntary basis with no financial incentive.

Frequently Asked Questions

Q. Are any of the NM Post-acute Care Provider Network facilities owned by Northwestern Medicine?
A. Northwestern Medicine owns some of the providers. Northwestern Medicine is aligned with other providers to make sure you receive the highest-quality care close to home.

Q. Do I have to select a provider from the Post-acute Care Provider Network?
A. No. There is no obligation to select a provider from the Northwestern Medicine Post-acute Care Provider Network. The network is offered to you as a guide to assist you in choosing a provider that meets your healthcare needs.

Q. Are there any additional fees or co-pays to use a provider in the Northwestern Medicine Post-acute Care Provider Network?
A. There are no extra fees to use the network. A discharge planner, case manager, or social worker will help you learn more about providers that accept your insurance as well as your insurance coverage.

Q. What if a Post-acute Care provider does not accept my insurance?
A. Your discharge planner, case manager, or social worker will work with your insurance company to choose a network provider that meets your needs and accepts your insurance.

Q. Are there any financial incentives for providers to participate in the Post-acute Care Provider Network?
A. No. There are no financial incentives for participation or performance.

For more information, please contact the hospital from where you were treated and/or discharged.

Northwestern Medicine is a community of caregivers who welcome, respect and serve all people without regard to age, race, color, national origin, religion, culture, language, physical or mental disability, socioeconomic status, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression and Vietnam or other veteran status.