America's Best Physical Rehabilitation Centers 2024

America's Best
Physical Rehabilitation Centers 2024

Physical rehabilitation centers provide around-the-clock care for people suffering from complex illnesses and injuries. These facilities offer intensive treatments for a variety of ailments, from neurological conditions like strokes to orthopedic problems like fractures.

While staying at inpatient rehabilitation centers, patients receive hands-on treatment that can drastically improve their quality of life. Multidisiciplinary teams—which typically include physical and occupational therapists—work to reduce patients' symptoms and equip them for life after discharge.

There are more than 1,100 of these facilities in the United States, so identifying the best fit can prove challenging. To help patients weigh their options, Newsweek has partnered with data intelligence platform Statista to rank America's Best Physical Rehabilitation Centers.

The annual list, now in its fifth edition, awards the top 300 inpatient physical rehabilitation facilities in the U.S. Each center was assigned a score based on quality metrics, accreditation data, a national survey of industry experts and Google reviews from patients.

To help patients narrow their search further, centers were sorted by geographic area. The 25 states with the most facilities were ranked individually, and facilities from the remaining states were grouped into four regions.

These physical rehabilitation centers are the best of the best for patients.

LICENSING:

If your facility was listed in the ranking, click here to learn more about licensing options.

METHODOLOGY

The 5th edition of America's Best Physical Rehabilitation Centers ranking awards the leading 300 inpatient physical rehabilitation facilities in the U.S. The physical rehabilitation centers were identified according to the definition of Inpatient Rehabilitation Facilities (IRFs) by CMS. IRFs are free standing rehabilitation hospitals and rehabilitation units in acute care hospitals. Centers which offer outpatient physical rehabilitation services only were excluded.

The 25 states with the most facilities according to the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) were ranked individually:

AL, AZ, AR, CA, CO, FL, GA, IL, IN, KS, KY, LA, MI, MO, NY, NC, OH, OK, PA, SC, TN, TX, VA, WA, WI.

The facilities from the remaining states were grouped into 4 regions: Northeast, Midwest, West and South.

THE RANKING IS BASED ON FOUR PILLARS:

1. Quality metrics data for IRFs published by the U.S. Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS).

2. National online survey: From April to May 2024, Statista in cooperation with Newsweek conducted an online survey among experts with knowledge of physical rehabilitation centers (physicians, physiotherapists, doctors, clinic managers and other health care professionals).

Participants were asked to recommend the Top 10 physical rehabilitation centers from their respective state. Recommendations for their own employers were not allowed.

For each recommended physical rehabilitation facility, participants also were asked to assess the quality of care, quality of service quality of follow-up care, accommodation and amenities.

Participants were also able to specify a standout program (amputation, brain injury, cancer rehabilitation, spinal cord injury, stroke) for the recommended physical rehabilitation center.

3. Accreditation data on physical rehabilitation centers provided by the Commission on Accreditation of Rehabilitation Facilities (CARF) and the Model Systems Knowledge Translation Center (MSKTC)

4. Google reviews as a proxy for patient satisfaction

SCORING MODEL:

A total score was calculated for each physical rehabilitation center. The total score was composed of:

● Quality metrics score (50% of the total score)

● Reputation score (35% of the total score)

● Accreditation score (each program 5% of the total score)

● Google reviews (5% of the total score)

QUALITY METRICS SCORE:

50% of the overall score comes from the quality metrics score calculated for each facility.

Quality metrics data is published by CMS. These quality metrics are risk-standardized quality measures, allowing for a comparison of facilities regarding quality of treatment and medical conditions, even if the patient groups are varying. For each of the sixteen quality metrics reported by CMS, a sub-score was calculated.

The facility which achieved the best result in one individual measure (e.g., lowest infection rate or highest influenza vaccination coverage among healthcare personnel) received 100% for the respective sub-score.

The weighted sub-scores were used to calculate the total quality metrics score.

REPUTATION SCORE:

The reputation score is 35% of the total score. 80% of the reputation score is based on expert recommendations in the survey. The order of the recommendations is important for the weighting of the recommendations. Additionally, the professional experience of the participant was taken into account. A score was assigned to each facility based on the number of weighted recommendations.

A quality score based on the expert assessments in the survey constitute 20% of the reputation score. For each recommended physical rehabilitation facility, participants were asked to assess the quality of:

● Care (e.g., treatments/ therapies, consultation with doctor/ therapist)

● Service (e.g., meals, leisure activities)

● Follow-up care (e.g., outpatient therapies)

● Accommodation & amenities (e.g., size of room, quality of furnishing)

ACCREDITATIONS SCORE:

CARF International is a nonprofit organization assigning voluntary accreditation for U.S. IRFs. To receive accreditation, facilities must commit to quality improvement, focus on the unique needs of each person the provider serves and monitor service outcomes.

The following specialty programs were included in the scoring model: amputation, brain injury, cancer rehabilitation, spinal cord injury, and stroke. The CARF accreditation score constitutes 5% of the total score and considers the general accreditation as well as the accreditations for the specialty programs.

Model Systems are funded by the National Institute on Disability, Independent Living, and Rehabilitation Research (NIDILRR). These specialized programs of care are available in the areas of spinal cord injury (SCI), traumatic brain Injury (TBI) and burn injury. The aim is to provide high quality research and patient care to improve the health and overall quality of life of people with TBI, SCI and burn injuries. Facilities are eligible for the Model systems score of 5% if they have one or more model system designations awarded by NIDILRR.

GOOGLE REVIEWS:

Google reviews were included as a new pillar in the scoring as a proxy for patient satisfaction. It constitutes 5% to the total score.

Disclaimer

The rankings are comprised exclusively of physical rehabilitation centers that are eligible regarding the scope described in this document. A mention in the ranking is a positive recognition based on peer recommendations and accreditations. The ranking is the result of an elaborate process which, due to the interval of data-collection and analysis, reflects the last 12 months only. Furthermore, any events preceding or following the period June 19, 2023 – July 5, 2024, and/or pertaining to individual persons affiliated/associated to the facilities were not included in the metrics. As such, the results of this ranking should not be used as the sole source of information for future deliberations.

The information provided in this ranking should be considered in conjunction with other available information about physical rehabilitation centers or, if possible, accompanied by a visit to a facility. The quality of physical rehabilitation centers that are not included in the rankings is not disputed.

About Statista R

Statista R is a world leader in the creation of company, brand, and product rankings and top lists, based on comprehensive market research and data analysis: Statista R recognizes the best. With a team of over 100 expert analysts and in cooperation with more than 40 high profile media brands across all continents, Statista R creates transparency for consumers and business decision makers and helps companies build trust and recognition across a plethora of industries and product categories. Visit r.statista.com for further information about Statista R and our rankings.

Statista R is a division of Statista. The leading data and business intelligence portal provides an extensive collection of statistics, reports, and insights on over 80,000 topics from 22,500 sources in 170 industries. Find out more at statista.com.

Download the full methodology here.