Hip Fracture - Early Referral Process
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The early referral process for hip fracture patients is designed to standardize and enhance access to rehabilitation post-surgery for patients following a hip fracture to facilitate their recovery.
From 2015-17, ten acute care and ten rehab hospital sites across five LHINs implemented the new model. Their goal was to reduce the acute care length of stay from surgery to discharge (to inpatient rehab programs) to an average of six (6) days. Almost all sites approached or surpassed the six-day target for ALOS from surgery to discharge to inpatient rehabilitation. All have sustained their gains.
Tools and Resources Case study (Healthcare Quarterly, April 2017) Describes the initiative, preliminary results and lessons learned. Improving transitions from acute care to rehab: Spreading change across GTA hospital sites A presentation for the Quality Improvement and Patient Safety Forum 2016. The presentation provides a high-level description of the Early Referral Process Initiative for Hip Fracture, progress-to-date and lessons learned by project teams. New Referral Process Hip Fracture Initiative Model This diagram outlines the step-by-step processes and suggested timelines for the two pathways. Information Recommended When Completing Rehab (RM&R) Application for Hip Fracture This tool provides acute care clinicians with a guide on what to include in rehab applications to prevent delays due to requests for information.
