Dr. Tonuzi inside Brooks' facility

Brooks Rehabilitation Partners with Paradigm on Inpatient Program for Injured Workers

Clinical Expertise

Jun 17, 2022

Second program partnership enables patients to achieve the highest functional level possible.

Brooks Rehabilitation, the leader in providing world-class rehabilitation solutions, is pleased to announce a second value-based partnership with Paradigm, an accountable specialty care management organization and pioneer in value-based care. Together, the two organizations developed a new innovative inpatient program that leverages their collective clinical expertise and state-of-the-art technologies to assist patients in achieving maximum functional outcomes.

In June 2021, Brooks and Paradigm created a ground-breaking outpatient program that delivered specialized medical expertise and technology to help injured workers with spinal cord injuries. This new value-based inpatient program is designed to deliver a collaborative approach to best-in-class clinical care for the most challenging spinal cord injuries.

“Brooks Rehabilitation Hospital is very excited to partner with Paradigm on value-based care for injured workers who have experienced a spinal cord injury,” says Amanda Osborne, PT, MBA, VP of Hospital Operations, Brooks Rehabilitation Hospital – University Campus. “This model is truly utilizing best practices and an interdisciplinary approach to ensure outcomes within an expected length of stay.”

“Our team is excited for this unique opportunity to unite with Paradigm to provide exemplary care for injured workers who have sustained catastrophic spinal cord injuries,” said Geneva Tonuzi, MD, Medical Director, Spinal Cord Injury Program and Spinal Cord Injury / Disorders Day Treatment Program, Brooks Rehabilitation. “In collaboration with Paradigm, we have created an inpatient program that complements our already established outpatient partnership. Our goal remains the same – to assist all of our patients to achieve the highest possible level of function.”

Patients participating in this new program will have access to state-of-the-art technology, innovation, and the best and most passionate medical providers in the country such as our fellowship-trained Spinal Cord Injury Medical Director, Geneva Tonuzi, MD, Neurologic-Certified Specialist physical therapist, Staci Balkan, PT, DPT, NCS, and Occupational Therapy Neurologic Fellowship Graduate, Devon Cohen, MS, OTR/L, BCPR. Patients participating in the program will receive individualized care plans that many include:

  • Brooks’ Hybrid Program, where they will have access to the technology offered in the Neuro Recovery Center (NRC) in addition to their one-on-one therapy time.
  • A wound program with wound stimulation to improve healing.
  • Spinal Cord Injury education classes, including our lunch dining group for patients, as appropriate based on upper extremity function, to learn and implement new strategies to increase independence with self-feeding.

Similar to the first partnership between Brooks and Paradigm, patients will have access to the Cyberdyne Hybrid Assistive Limb (HAL) device, the world’s first robotic treatment device shown to improve a patient’s ability to walk. As an individual thinks about moving, the brain generates command signals that produce faint bio-electric signals on the surface of the skin. HAL is programmed to detect those signals and move as the wearer intends. Working with a trained therapist, the wearer is able to provide biofeedback to the brain, which increases neural pathways, leading to an improved ability for the wearer to walk on their own.

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“Expanding our existing outpatient value-based partnership with Brooks now gives the injured workers we serve access to world-class acute inpatient rehab that is aligned to Paradigm’s value-based model for clinical outcomes at fixed costs,” says Paradigm Chief Medical Officer, Michael Choo, MD.

Temporary housing for patients, families and caregivers is available at Helen’s House while in Jacksonville, Fla. Brooks also offers additional services, like occupational therapy and psychology as needed for each patient. Patients can also participate in Brooks’ comprehensive adaptive sports and recreation program that provide fun and fitness for individuals with physical disabilities.

About Brooks Rehabilitation

For more than 50 years, Brooks Rehabilitation, headquartered in Jacksonville, Fla., has been a comprehensive source for physical rehabilitation services. As a nonprofit organization, Brooks operates one of the nation’s largest inpatient rehabilitation hospitals in the U.S. with 160 beds, a second 60-bed inpatient hospital that opened in April 2022, and a Center for Inpatient Rehabilitation in partnership with Halifax Health in Daytona Beach, Fla.

Brooks also has one of the region’s largest home healthcare agencies, more than 40 outpatient therapy clinics, the Brooks Rehabilitation Medical Group, two skilled nursing facilities, assisted living and memory care. Brooks will treat more than 60,000 patients through its system of care each year. In addition, Brooks operates the Clinical Research Center, which specializes in research to advance the science of rehabilitation. Brooks also provides many low- or no-cost community programs and services to improve the quality of life for people living with physical disabilities.

For more information, visit BrooksRehab.org.

About Paradigm

Paradigm is an accountable specialty care management organization focused on improving the lives of people with complex and catastrophic injuries and diagnoses. The company has been a pioneer in value-based care since 1991 and has an exceptional track record of generating the very best outcomes for patients, payers, and providers. Deep clinical expertise is the foundation for every part of Paradigm’s business, including its risk-based clinical solutions, case management services, high-value specialty networks, home health, and payment integrity programs.

Paradigm is headquartered in Walnut Creek, California, with offices across the U.S. For more information, please visit www.paradigmcorp.com.

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