Abstract
Purpose: The aim of the study was to identify interventions to capture admission functional independence measure (FIM(R)) ratings on the day of admission to an inpatient rehabilitation facility.
Design: A quantitative evidence-based practice quality improvement study utilizing descriptive statistics.
Methods: Admission FIM(R) ratings from patients discharged in June 2012 (retrospective review) were compared to admission FIM(R) ratings from patients discharged in June 2014 (prospective review). The logic model was utilized to determine the project inputs, outputs, and outcomes.
Findings: Interventions to capture admission FIM(R) ratings on the day of admission are essential to accurately predict the patient's burden of care, length of stay, and reimbursement. Waiting until Day 2 or Day 3 after admission to capture the admission FIM(R) assessment resulted in inflated admission FIM(R) ratings and suboptimal quality outcomes.
Conclusion/Clinical Relevance: Interventions to capture admission FIM(R) ratings on the day of admission were successful at improving the quality of care, length of stay efficiency, and accurately recording admission FIM(R) ratings to determine the patient's burden of care.