May 23, 1997

For Immediate Release

SYRACUSE, NY -- How is the rehabilitation progressing? What activities need more emphasis? What's the average recovery time? These and other important questions about patient progress will soon be answered by St. Camillus thanks to a new outcomes measurement tool they're using.

The RehabPath Subacute Rehabilitation Program at St. Camillus recently began using the Functional Independence Measure instrument to better track and quantify patient functional outcomes.

St. Camillus is one of only two rehabilitation facilities in central New York currently using the FIM.

"The FIMs will allow our program to operate more efficiently," says Debbie Byrne, RehabPath program coordinator. "We'll be able to identify and predict rehabilitation trends, and give patients, referring physicians and insurers valuable feedback on how the rehabilitation is progressing."

The FIM's PC-based software will also help the RehabPath Program establish appropriate rehabilitation goals, identify staffing needs and improve fiscal management. Quarterly reports comparing RehabPath patient scores (scores are analyzed anonymously to protect patient confidentiality) with those of regional and national subacute rehabilitation programs will offer a look at how the program stacks up to its peers. For referring physicians and insurers, patient functional status can be graphically represented and assessments compared over a span of time. In addition, progress and outcomes can be compared for all of a physician's or insurer's patients by diagnosis and average length of stay can be more accurately predicted for patients by diagnosis.

"We're already measuring functional gains by recording patient FIM scores at regular set intervals," says Byrne. "This documents changes in functional status over the course of the rehabilitation."

In order to fully assess patient outcomes, FIM scores are always recorded at admission, at discharge and at follow-up (80 to 180 days after discharge).

The RehabPath Program team is currently completing the FIM credentialing process which will allow them full use of the system by early June of this year.

The FIM instrument has been proven to be both reliable and valid in a variety of educational and clinical environments.

Licensed by the University at Buffalo's Uniform Data System for Medical Rehabilitation, the FIM instrument is a nationally-recognized tool for measuring outcomes of rehabilitative care. It consists of 18 items and measures a person's actual performance of basic activities of daily living. FIM scores document a person's functional abilities and provide a basic and uniform way to measure the severity of patient disability and results of medical rehabilitation.

St. Camillus' RehabPath Subacute Rehabilitation Program provides short-term, accelerated therapies and treatments for individuals recovering from orthopedic conditions such as a hip/knee replacement or multiple fractures, a stroke or multiple sclerosis. The program helps patients function better and become more independent so they can make a smooth and quick transition from hospital to home.