How to Compare Rehabilitation Goals Between Two Skilled Nursing Facilities
Two skilled nursing facilities may both advertise physical therapy, occupational therapy, and short-term rehabilitation.
That does not mean the rehabilitation plans will look the same.
Compare the goals, therapy schedule, nursing support, measurement of progress, and discharge planning — not just the number of therapy disciplines listed on a brochure.
Start with the hospital’s functional baseline
Ask the hospital therapy team to document what your parent can do now:
- bed mobility;
- transfers;
- walking distance;
- stairs;
- toileting;
- bathing;
- dressing;
- eating;
- cognition; and
- use of equipment.
Bring the same baseline to each SNF.
Ask each facility for likely initial goals
Examples might include:
- transfer with one-person assistance;
- walk 150 feet with a walker;
- climb four steps;
- dress upper body independently;
- toilet with supervision;
- improve endurance for home tasks.
Goals should be individualized.
A facility should not promise a specific outcome before evaluating the resident.
Ask how much therapy is actually planned
Ask:
- PT frequency;
- OT frequency;
- speech therapy frequency;
- weekend therapy;
- individual versus group treatment;
- session length;
- how missed sessions are handled; and
- what happens if the resident is too fatigued.
“Therapy seven days a week” can mean different things.
Ask how progress is measured
Request examples of the metrics the team uses.
Useful measures include:
- distance walked;
- assistance level;
- stair performance;
- transfer level;
- balance;
- ADL independence; and
- caregiver training.
The family should be able to understand whether progress is occurring.
Ask about nursing support between therapy sessions
Rehabilitation continues outside the gym.
Ask whether nursing staff reinforce:
- safe transfers;
- walking;
- positioning;
- toileting routines;
- swallowing precautions;
- equipment use; and
- skin protection.
Use Care Compare short-stay measures
Medicare Care Compare includes short-stay quality information for nursing homes that provide rehabilitation.
These measures can help families ask about:
- successful return to the community;
- rehospitalization;
- emergency-department use;
- functional improvement; and
- other outcomes.
Do not choose from one score alone.
Ask about discharge planning on day one
Ask:
- What is the expected discharge destination?
- What barriers must be solved?
- Who evaluates the home?
- How are stairs tested?
- When is caregiver training done?
- Who orders equipment?
- Who arranges home health?
- What happens if goals are not met?
A practical example
Facility A tells a family, “We provide PT and OT daily.”
Facility B says, “We will evaluate your father within 24 hours, set goals around his four entrance steps and toilet transfers, review progress twice weekly, and begin caregiver training before discharge.”
Facility B has given the family more usable information even before outcomes are known.
Ten questions to compare facilities
- When will therapy evaluate my parent?
- What goals are likely based on current function?
- How many therapy sessions are typical?
- Is weekend therapy available?
- How is progress measured?
- How does nursing reinforce therapy?
- What short-stay outcomes can we review?
- How soon does discharge planning begin?
- How is caregiver training handled?
- What happens if progress is slower than expected?
Compare rehab goals in the larger post-hospital decision
Use inpatient rehab vs. skilled nursing to confirm the type of setting, then compare each facility’s goals with the broader rehab vs. long-term-care decision. If coverage may end before the goals are met, review what happens when Medicare stops paying for rehab.
Sources and review date
Sources checked October 11, 2026.
