In order to construct a medical transfer system for the stroke, Taiwan Ministry of Health and Welfare implemented a national program of Post-acute Care for Cerebrovascular Diseases (PAC-CVD) in March 2014. Under the intensive in-patient rehabilitation programs and per diem payment, the healthcare utilization was expected to be improved. The purpose of this study was to investigate the impact of intensive post-acute stroke rehabilitation on functional status in different hospital accreditation level.

The stroke patients who were admitted to post-acute ward in two hospitals during 2014/03/01 to 2017/8/31 were indicated to the study. The patients was separated to group 1 (a rural regional hospital) and group 2 (a metropolitan district hospital). The modified Rankin Scale (mRS) score, Barthal Index (BI), Instrumental Activities of Daily Living Scale (IADL) and Berg Balance Scale (BBS) were used to evaluate functional status.

In total, 740 stroke patients (311 patients in group 1, and 429 patients in group 2) were included. The length of days (LOS) between stroke onset and post-acute care (PAC) ward admission were 11.60 days in group 1, and 21.41 days in group 2. The length of days in PAC ward were 27.02 days in group 1, and 36.85 days in group 2. The percentage of patients referred from other acute hospitals were 23.47% in group 1, and 89.51% in group 2. The severity (MRS grading on PAC admission day) was 3.53 in group 1, and 3.88 in group 2. The functional improvement after rehabilitation training was noted in both groups.

Under the intensive post-acute in-patient rehabilitation programs, the stroke patients got functional improvement. No matter the accreditation level of the hospital, the same payment may make more chance for the district hospitals to develop. The healthcare utilization may work efficiently under the medical transfer system.