Clinical Service:

Physiatry Consultations in Acute Care Hospitals (Neurosurgical Service at MGH)

Rationale: Patients in the acute care hospital suffer from a range of cognitive and functional disabilities - either new in onset or pre-existing, mild or catastrophic. These disabilities require diagnostic work-up when new. Whether new or old, appropriate management during hospitalization as well as appropriate management on hospital discharge are part and parcel of quality care.

Rehabilitation Services: Several disciplines work in the management of patients with disabilities. Primary care physicians and specialists participate in appropriate diagnostic work and treatment. Rehabilitation therapists - speech, occupational, and physical therapists - are consulted by physicians to assess and treat disabilities. Social Services assists patients and families cope and plan for future care. Case managers familiar with community resources help plan transitions from hospital-level care to other appropriate settings. Specific post-acute care services - home health, rehabilitation hospitals, etc. - have representatives that assess referred patients to determine if their services are appropriate and to arrange for the transition in care.

Physiatry Consultation: Physiatrists can be helpful to this process of acute hospital disability management by helping in the acute hospital treatment phase. This includes activities like taking relevant histories, performing physical examinations, talking with other physicians on the case, discussing management with therapists, and visiting with family to educate on future management. Physiatrists can also assist in determining the best sequence of post-acute care services over the several weeks and months post discharge.

If any person involved with the treatment of a patient thinks Physiatry consultation might be helpful on a specific neurosurgical case, please feel free to discuss the case with one of us - Hilary Siebens, M.D. for Brain Injury cases and Michelle Alpert, M.D. for Back/Spinal Cord problems. We as well will cross cover for each other.

Our office/consultation number is 724-1959.

Hilary Siebens, M.D.
Director, Community Rehabilitation Services

Physical Medicine & Brain Injury Links

See Cognitive and Functional Rehabilitation in Brain Injury from a recent MGH Neurosurgery Grand Rounds Presentation.


To Other WWW Resources of Neurosurgical Interest.