Our Long-Term Acute Care (LTAC) program provides hospital-level care for our most medically complex patients. This specialized medical care manages patients’ catastrophic injuries while using bedside therapies to move them toward recovery. Patients in this program may have a range of injuries or illnesses, to multiple traumas to an infectious disease.
Your patient may be appropriate for our LTAC Medical Unit if he or she:
- Is expected to be in the ICU for more than four days
- Is on a vent
- Has sepsis or multi-organ failure
- Has stage III or IV wounds
- Needs negative pressure wound therapy (vac)
- Has a history of multiple readmissions to acute care hospitals
- Has previously failed at a lower level of care
- Requires any of the following services:
- Chest tubes
- Extensive wound care
- Stable cardiac drip
- Multiple IV antibiotics
- Hemodialysis/peritoneal dialysis
- Prolonged IV therapy
- TPN
- Trach care/extensive pulmonary services
- Vent weaning
LTAC clinical admission and continued stay criteria
Daniel Drake Center for Post-Acute Care uses the McKesson InterQual Level of Care Criteria for LTAC admissions and continued stays. A key to placement is making an early referral. In doing so, the likelihood of the patient meeting our criteria for long-term acute care is much higher. Unfortunately, patients who fail to meet our criteria often do so because too much time has passed since their injury.