Business case for rehab unit expansion detailed

In a July Voice of Nursing Leadership article, Daniel Webel, BSN, RN, nursing operations director for inpatient rehabilitation at Northwestern Medicine Woodstock (Ill.), explains how his team built a business case for a rehab unit expansion. His team looked at core metrics ─ patient functional gains, community discharge rate, acute transfer rate, infection prevention, fall rates and care profitability ─ and realized patients were being referred to the rehab unit but not admitted due to lack of space. They increased referrals by expanding the role of the physiatry line and advertising the unit to physicians. When financial pressures prompted leaders to seek new revenue streams, Webel presented the rehab unit’s growth story and potential. His idea received approval; the hospital will add additional beds by December.