Rising inter-sector competition and the commoditization of post-acute care have made it essential for post-acute care (PAC) providers to differentiate themselves from competitors. Many have embraced specialization — the creation of focused, high-performing clinical service lines — to better define their value.

The most common option for specialization is to focus on one or more diagnoses, though it’s not the only option. Providers can also specialize in treating select impairments or even patient groups, such as exceptionally high-acuity patients.

Specializing can help facilities maintain and grow patient capture by:

• Improving clinical outcomes: Specialization allows clinicians to gain experience caring for a specific subset of patients, which is likely to produce better outcomes. Specialized clinical expertise also appeals to referrers.
• Simplifying data collection: Specialization narrows the number of metrics necessary to track and evaluate success, making analysis simpler. The ability to clearly demonstrate quality wins over payers and referrers.
• Increasing brand recognition: By creating a distinct identity that separates a facility from competitors, specialization helps differentiate the facility to patients and referrers.

While specialization offers a host of potential benefits, the proliferation of specialty programs makes it difficult for any program to stand out to referrers. When many providers advertise a specialty, referrers must take the initiative to separate true specialty programs from marketing endeavors.

In order to improve patient outcomes and drive referrals, a specialty must be a cohesive business venture involving significant investment of funding and human capital. The key elements of a high-quality specialty are:

• Organizational commitment: Executives, leadership, and clinicians visibly support and prioritize the specialty.
• Dedicated resources: Staff, leaders, and/or equipment are dedicated to the specialty, with further investments in staff, training, and technology as needed.
• Clinical excellence: Staff and leaders are committed to delivering excellent clinical outcomes through ongoing staff education that supports quality.

Progressive providers identify overlap between existing organizational strengths and emerging market needs. Before specializing, consider your organization’s:

• Current high-performing service lines: If your organization already has an area of expertise, consider investing in this high-performing service and building it into a specialty. Once meeting performance benchmarks, consider adding closely related specialties first.
• Available resources: Necessary resources may include staffing, relationships with specialist physicians, necessary equipment, market awareness, and competitive intelligence. When considering a new specialty, ask: What additional resources would you need to build a strong specialty? What return on investment would you need to justify dedicating resources to this specialty?
• Mission and values: Specialty choices should align with your organization’s mission and/or commitment to specific patient groups.