Alternate Level of Care

Different Level of Care

Planning, Hospice, Level of Care, Levels of Service, Skilled Care, Subacute Care Facility.

    Alternate Level of Care: A level of care that can safely be used in place of the current level and determined based on the acuity and complexity of the patient's condition and the type of needed services and resources.

    Appropriateness of Setting: Used to determine if the level of care needed is being delivered in the most appropriate and cost-effective setting possible.

    Continuum of Care: The continuum of care matches ongoing needs of the individuals being served by the case management process with the appropriate level and type of health, medical, financial, legal and psychosocial care for services within a setting or across multiple settings.

    Custodial Care: Care provided primarily to assist a patient in meeting the activities of daily living but not requiring skilled nursing care.

    Discharge Planning: The process of assessing the patient's needs of care after discharge from a healthcare facility and ensuring that the necessary services are in place before discharge. 

    This process ensures a patient's timely, appropriate, and safe discharge to the next level of care or setting including appropriate use of resources necessary for ongoing care.

    Hospice: A system of inpatient and outpatient care, which is supportive and palliative family-centered care, designed to assist the individual with terminal illness to be comfortable and maintain a satisfactory lifestyle through the end of life.

    Level of Care: The intensity of effort required to diagnose, treat, preserve or maintain an individual's physical or emotional status.

    Levels of Service: Based on the patient's condition and the needed level of care, used to identify and verify that the patient is receiving care at the appropriate level.

    Skilled Care: Patient care services that require delivery by a licensed professional such as a registered nurse or physical therapist, occupational therapist, speech pathologist, or social worker.

    Subacute Care Facility: A healthcare facility that is a step down from an acute care hospital and a step up from a conventional skilled nursing facility intensity of services.

    Transitional Planning: The process case managers apply to ensure that appropriate resources and services are provided to patients and that these services are provided in the most appropriate setting or level of care as delineated in the standards and guidelines of regulatory and accreditation agencies. 

    It focuses on moving a patient from most complex to less complex care setting.