Measuring your progress and outcome
Rehabilitation Hospitals like HealthSouth North Virginia measure how much help you need to perform basic skills when you first arrive at the hospital. This is called your Functional Independence Measure score (FIM score). One or two days before you leave the hospital, your nurses and therapists will rescore your FIM to see how much you have improved and how well you have met your goals.
Below are the 18 items measured on the FIM score:
- Eating
- Grooming
- Bathing
- Dressing your upper body
- Dressing your lower body
- Toileting
- Bladder
- Bowel
- Bed to chair transfer
- Walk/wheelchair
- Shower
- Toilet transfer
- Stairs
- Comprehension
- Expression
- Social interaction
- Problem solving
- Memory
Setting your goals
You and your rehabilitation team will review your FIM and work with you to develop your specific goals. Things to be considered when setting your goals are:
- What are the minimum requirements for you to go home?
- What are the needs of your friends and family?
- What is reasonable considering your condition?
- What can you accomplish during your rehabilitation stay?
Independence Day
One or two days before you leave the hospital, your nurses and therapists will rescore your FIM to see how much you have improved and how well you have met your goals.
This diagram visually demonstrates the change in FIM score and the progress made by a patient in a HealthSouth Rehabilitation Hospital. The blue represents the starting point on admission and the green illustrates the amount of improvement attained at discharge.





