Bridge therapy is therapy intended, in transportation metaphor, to serve as a figurative bridge to another stage of therapy or health, helping a patient past a challenging period caused by particular severe illness.
There are various types of bridge therapy, such as bridge to transplant, bridge to candidacy, bridge to decision, bridge to recovery, and anticoagulation bridge (such as heparin bridge).
Bridge therapy exists in contrast to destination therapy, which is the figurative destination rather than a bridge to something else.
A related concept is linkage to care, which is a bridge to therapy, such as when community screening events (for conditions such as high blood pressure or high blood sugar) find new cases of hypertension or diabetes; recipients are helped to find appropriate care (for example, some have not been to a doctor for many years and can use help finding a new doctor).