Economics of a rehabilitation program for patients with a traumatic brain injury requiring long-term care

Arizona's public health care demonstration project, a managed care alternative to Medicaid, provides the context for a system with an incentive to contain costs. Within this context, a countywide network of rehabilitation programs has been developed to encourage placement and support of severely disabled people in the community, thereby reducing the need for long-term nursing home placements. This article describes the statewide system and the local rehabilitation network. Results of its first few years of operation suggest that coordinated rehabilitation programming is consistent with managed care objectives in long-term care and contributes to cost effectiveness.