[Postacute care]

Abstract

The aging of the population and changes in family and social structures have led to increasing care needs for elderly persons following an acute disease or accident, with consequent concerns regarding costs and sustainability within the public health system. The main objective of postacute care (PAC) is to restore the functional capabilities of the patient after an acute event and contribute to determine the patient's outcome and future healthcare requirements. With this background, we carried out a systematic review of the published literature from 1990 to 2011 focused on the following aspects of PAC: a) objectives; b) estimations of the need and the indicators for access to it, and c) transfer strategies from acute care to PAC. The results of this review indicate that PAC is an efficient approach to improve patients' quality of life and to sustain the public healthcare system. The choice of candidates for PAC should be based on both health and social indicators, and the overall process viewed in a cross-sectional manner in order to avoid increases in total cost.

Keywords: Adecuación de los cuidados sanitarios; Ancianos; Costes sanitarios; Cuidados intermedios; Cuidados postagudos; Cuidados subagudos; Frail elderly; Health care costs; Health care rationing; Indicadores; Indicators; Intermediate care; Needs assessment; Objetives; Objetivos; Planificación de servicios; Postacute care; Subacute care; Transfer strategies; Transferencia.