Rehabilitation coordination in China for international patients

Referral question

Ask treating team for functional goals and required therapy/medical support, with patient consent. Coordinator can present the referral but does not prescribe rehabilitation.

Receiving capability

Confirm the rehabilitation unit, evaluation time, bed or outpatient arrangement and what records it needs. A facility advertisement cannot establish that this patient is accepted.

Transport and payment

Assess with clinicians whether road journey needs wheelchair, staffed vehicle or other support. Check equipment continuity and facility finance terms; insurer approval may differ between acute and rehabilitation care.

Outcome and transition

Agree who reviews progress and whether later home support or another hospital visit is required. A transfer ends at a named rehab handover, not at the building address.

Programme matching

A rehabilitation request should say what the acute-care team believes the patient can currently do, what supervision or equipment is needed and what goals require assessment. The receiving institution determines whether it has the appropriate inpatient or outpatient programme and when it can evaluate the patient. The coordinator can arrange exchange of authorised records and contacts but should not describe a named therapy as guaranteed. If the patient is arriving from overseas, confirm whether acute assessment is needed first and which unit receives them at the airport-to-facility transition.

Handover into the next setting

Ask the rehabilitation team what clinical summary, medication and equipment inventory it needs. The transport provider must match the clinician-assessed position and transfer support, including stairs or building access at both ends. Admission may depend on a separate deposit or payer decision; confirm this with the facility rather than applying an acute hospital GOP automatically. Before a patient leaves rehabilitation, plan how progress is reviewed and whether home care or outpatient therapy can accept the next handover. A route is complete only when the named recipient takes responsibility.

Clinical and financial gates

Rehabilitation often begins with an assessment rather than a guaranteed programme or bed. Ask the proposed unit what information it needs to decide and whether any earlier acute hospital treatment must be completed. An insurer or employer may apply different benefits or authorisation to rehabilitation than to an acute hospital stay; confirm payer and facility terms for the actual service. If the patient arrives without confirmed intake, an airport vehicle cannot solve the missing clinical destination. Establish an accepted interim setting through the treating and receiving teams before finalising travel, and be clear who will collect the patient if timing shifts.

Decision pathway

Obtain clinician referral, facility acceptance and funding terms before moving the patient; set a named handover.

Information for a useful first enquiry

Current hospital and clinician, functional goals, intended rehab city, assessment/bed status, mobility/equipment, payer and receiver.

For detailed clinical records, use a direct authorised exchange rather than this public page.