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Is Assisted Living Considered Inpatient Care?
Date Updated: January 3, 2025
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Sarah has produced thousands of articles in diverse niches over her decade-long career as a full-time freelance writer. This includes substantial content in the fields of senior care and health care. She has experience writing about wide-ranging topics, such as types of care, care costs, funding options, state Medicaid programs and senior resources.
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Dr. Brindusa Vanta is a health care professional, researcher, and an experienced medical writer (2000+ articles published online and several medical ebooks). She received her MD degree from “Iuliu Hatieganu” University of Medicine, Romania, and her HD diploma from OCHM – Toronto, Canada.
No, assisted living isn’t considered inpatient care. While both care types provide essential support for residents, services vary significantly. Licensing and staffing requirements differ statewide between the facility types, and seniors must meet different admissions criteria. Public funding options also depend on the care setting.
Typical Services Provided by Assisted Living
Assisted living communities offer nonmedical support and recreational programs in a residential environment. Common services include:
- Custodial care and support with activities of daily living, such as bathing, dressing and ambulation
- Meal preparation, including special diets
- Help with domestic chores and errands
- Maintenance of residence
- Local transportation
- Companionship
- Organized leisure activities
- Access to on-site recreational amenities, for example, gardens, lounges and gyms
Many communities offer regular wellness checks, nursing oversight and coordination with third-party medical providers. Depending on their licensing terms and staff qualifications, some provide medication management services. Additionally, residents may receive outpatient services, such as rehabilitation therapies and blood tests — often through partnerships with external agencies. However, assisted living facilities don’t operate as clinical settings.
Inpatient Care Versus Assisted Living
Assisted living residences employ trained caregivers to support seniors with day-to-day living. Conversely, inpatient settings — such as hospitals and skilled nursing facilities — provide comprehensive clinical and therapeutic services delivered by qualified medical professionals. Care teams may consist of physicians, nurses, therapists and nursing aides. Skilled services include wound care, rehabilitation therapy and pain management, while inpatient facilities render around-the-clock care and medical monitoring.
Assisted living facilities provide a long-term care solution for many seniors, whereby communities become their primary residences. Many also offer respite stays. In contrast, inpatient facilities provide short- and long-term care, depending on an individual’s medical condition. Often, patients receive short-term inpatient care while recovering from an illness, injury or operation. They then move to a lower-level care setting or return home. Sometimes, seniors require long-term skilled inpatient care to manage chronic or complex conditions.
Admissions Criteria and Funding Options
Each assisted living community sets its admissions criteria, often stipulating that prospective residents need help with at least two ADLs. However, for inpatient hospital or nursing home admission, individuals must meet functional level-of-care requirements and have clinical needs.
Payment options vary according to the setting. Seniors have several ways to pay for assisted living, including private resources, state Medicaid or Medicaid waiver programs, VA benefits and long-term care insurance. Similarly, various programs help people pay medical bills. For example, Medicare Part A covers inpatient care in hospitals and skilled nursing facilities. Options for paying for nursing home care include personal funds, private insurance, Medicare, Medicaid and VA funding.