Every year, more than 20 million adult patients are discharged from hospitals across the United States. Typically, at least a third of them are referred for post acute care (PAC), including long-term care hospitals, inpatient rehabilitation facilities, skilled nursing facilities, and home health agencies. The number of patients referred to PAC is likely to increase in the near future because of recent legislative and reimbursement trends that incentivize care across the continuum rather than focus on inpatient settings.
