Hospitals specializing in long-term care have existed for decades in the form of sanatoriums for patients with tuberculosis and other chronic diseases.
The modern hospital known as an LTACH came into existence as a result of the Medicare, Medicaid, and SCHIP Balanced Budget Refinement Act of 1999.
The Affordable Care Act requires LTACHs to report several quality measures as set by CMS.
There is some criticism surrounding the frequency with which patients develop serious infections in LTACHs, which can occur three times as much as in conventional hospitals.
), are cited as having almost twice the number of Medicare violations as standard hospitals, and also have higher incidents of bedsores and infections."