CARF Accreditation

The Rusk Institute of Rehabilitation Medicine has been fully accredited by the Commission on Accreditation of Rehabilitation Facilities (CARF), a voluntary accrediting agency that sets industry standards for excellence in rehabilitation programs. Rusk’s two inpatient rehabilitation programs were surveyed separately—34th Street in May and 17th Street in June—and both achieved excellent results. They received full three-year accreditation for Comprehensive Integrated Inpatient Rehabilitation, as well as for the Brain Injury Program at 17th Street and the Pediatric-Family Centered and Comprehensive Stroke Programs at 34th Street.

Both CARF reports also included numerous "exemplary conformance statements," which are measures of how well an institution meets the best practice standards. Examples include:

• The organization has a comprehensive performance improvement process to ensure the delivery of effective and efficient rehabilitation services.
• The commitment of the leadership to the mission and vision of the organization and to advocacy on the local, state and national levels is noteworthy.
• The interdisciplinary team has established excellent mechanisms to communicate decisions to the entire team, including team conferences and daily rounds.
• The medical leadership is excellent and plentiful and tremendously well qualified and knowledgeable. The treatments provided are based on current literature, established procedures and protocols, and leadership’s knowledge of allied health capabilities and limitations.
• The resistance to complacency is impressive and the tradition of excellence has been maintained.
• The forms used to document [patient rounds] are available to any staff member to review throughout the day in order to continue the dissemination of pertinent information and avoid errors that might arise from lack of information.
• After a decade of growth and nurturing, the brain injury program has assembled an extraordinary team of professional who work well together with a shared commitment to providing superior services and to meeting the individual needs of persons served.
• The comprehensive stroke program team is commended for the comprehensive educational packet that has been put together to assist persons served in self-management after stroke.
• The pediatric family-centered rehabilitation program is staffed by extremely well trained and dedicated pediatric physiatrists who have excellent knowledge of the children and adolescents services and communicate effectively with their families.
• The comprehensive integrated inpatient rehabilitation program has evolved into a finely tuned, efficient and well-run example of true interdisciplinary rehabilitation. The program is commended for providing resources for the environmental barrier program that assists persons service in dealing with barriers in an urban environment.

The surveyors lauded the Rusk Institute of Rehabilitation, NYU Hospitals Center for "provid[ing] quality rehabilitation services...by competent and caring interdisciplinary teams."

Staff members and leadership are congratulated for this proud achievement!

Posted September 2006