Focus on Therapeutic Outcomes (FOTO) is a specially-designed web-based assessment system for patients. This system has the capability of reporting three different health-based functionality measurements for each of your patients. The first is referred to as the “Initial Functional Status”. The second is called the “Predicted Goal Status”. The final measurement is identified as the “Discharge Functional Status”. Focus on Therapeutic Outcomes is considered to be a highly valued data-collecting tool that is being used more and more by a wide variety of medical professionals – specialists, general physicians, physical therapists, and more. In the State of Colorado, it has been established that if clinicians in the medical rehab healthcare system integrate FOTO into their facilities, they have the potential to earn the reputation of being the absolute best providers in their industry. In this brief guide, you will learn a few key points about the functionality measurements associated with Focus on Therapeutic Outcomes.
Initial Functional Status
This particular measurement of FOTO is completed during the admission process. The patient is responsible for completing a full questionnaire in regard to the body part identified as troublesome or the specific impairment in which they suffer. This is always the main body part or health-related issue that is in need of rehab healthcare treatment. The medical professional will then calculate a score based on the way which the patient answered the questions. The final score will be from 0 to 100. This will identify the functional ability of the patient.
Predicted Goal Status
Focus on Therapeutic Outcomes uses a special risk adjustment factor list that identifies 10 unique risks. Once these risk factors are outlined, the rehab healthcare professional makes a prediction on the outcome of the treatment plan, as it relates to each individual patient. Not only does this aid in setting expectations for the patient, but, it also aids in reporting on a national level.
Discharge Functional Status
During a patient’s treatment and on the very last visit associated with their treatment, the patient will complete a comprehensive assessment. The purpose and intent of this assessment is to track the progress of the patient and the improvement of the functionality associated with the body part and/or the impairment in which they originally suffered. The change from the initial assessment is compared to the final assessment. This aids in determining just how effective that particular treatment was for the issues that the patient originally experienced.
Conclusion
Focus on Therapeutic Outcome is the newest aspect to the value-driven healthcare system. In recent years, medical providers that focused on rehab health care were encouraged to provide volume-driven healthcare services to their patients. While many did experience benefits from these services, not all patients experienced improvements. As a result, rehab healthcare providers actually lost trust and profits. By using value-driven services, such as Focus on Therapeutic Outcomes, each patient will receive the exact treatment in which they require and the revenue generated will exceed that which has been considered to be the “norm” for the past several years.
