SWOT of Rehabcare Inc. Essay

Rehab Care

Founded in 1982, the RehabCare Group Inc. is a private company that provides physical and cognitive rehabilitation program management services to approximately 1200 hospitals, skilled nursing facilities, outpatient facilities, and other long-term care facilities in the United States. The company also has a Program Management Services division that provides rehabilitation services and skilled nursing for acute conditions, a Hospital division that primarily functions in rehabilitation hospitals, and an Other Healthcare Services division that provides strategic and financial consulting services. The company's headquarters is in Louisville, Kentucky. Below is a SWOT analysis of the company:

Strengths

High quality of care.

Licensed therapists / highly skilled workforce.

Large distribution and sales networks. Experienced business units.

Weaknesses

Little investments in research and development.

Extremely competitive market.

Patient census subject to issues with the economy.

Opportunities

New markets.

New products and services.

Threats

Price changes in services.

Issues with the economy.

Changing insurance regulations.

Competition from private companies.

A major of potential improvement in hospitals in the United States involves standardizing discharge planning and discharge requirements (Joynt & Jha, 2012). A substantial number of patients will require some form of rehabilitation following discharge from acute care and a good number of hospitals do not have in-house rehabilitation programs for outpatients.A very large potential new market is to develop these in -- house. RehabCare Inc. can provide all of the necessary administrative, developmental, sales, and other services with the hospital in a partnership that can be profitable for both parties. Fully developing this new market can also lessen competition from outside private companies that vie for patients needing rehabilitation services upon their discharge from acute care. Thus, fully addressing the development of in -- house outpatient rehabilitation services can transform this opportunity into a strength of the company and a weakness of RehabCare Inc. into a new opportunity.

A large number of hospital patients that are in need of longer-term rehabilitation services are patients that incur some type of cognitive impairment or emotional distress along with their physical injuries (e.g., Needham, Dinglas, Morris, Jackson, Hough et al., 2013; Tully, Selkow, Bengel, & Rafanelli, 2014). While RehabCare does employ speech therapists who can address some of these to a minor degree it does not employ rehabilitation psychologists or neuropsychologists who are far better trained to assess, diagnose, and assist in the treatment of individuals with cognitive impairments or emotional issues. Adding these services….....