August 2009 – SimplyRehab announced that its 2 SimplyFit test sites in Illinois have successfully completed two successive quarters of Fall Predictiontesting with an 82% prediction rate for ambulating patients. For both multiple fallers and single event fallers, the prediction rate is consistent. SimplyRehab also reports that it now has a control group of ALF residents who will be tested quarterly for risk of falling but will not participate in the weekly exercise program. By comparing this control group to the group that exercises several times a week, SimplyRehab hopes to prove precisely how much the strengthening of specific muscle groups reduces the severity and frequency of falls. SimplyRehab aides are also administering new Fall Prediction tests with a self-propelling wheelchair bound population at an Illinois SNF. The company hopes to report predictive accuracy results for this group before year end. SimplyRehab’s efforts in predicting falls among wheelchair bound residents is unique in terms of a SNF based project and is running in parallel with a similar study being conducted by the VA at their hospitals.

March 2009 - At the annual LSN (Life Services Network) conference in Chicago, SimplyRehab announced SIMPLYFIT, a personalized, supervised exercise program that is customized to meet the individual needs of adults 55 and older who live in Independent or Assisted Living communities. The program's goal is to help all participants avoid falls and maintain a healthy life style by providing supervised exercise on state of the art equipment along with objective measurements at regular intervals.

Our team of certified exercise technicians, all of whom have been trained by a licensed physiologist, create a customized program for each participant based on an initial assessment of strength and balance. This assessment is repeated quarterly with changes to the individual's program driven by measured changes. The SIMPLYFIT staff are also trained to refer participants for physical, occupational and speech therapy when appropriate symptoms are observed. SIMPLYFIT has affordable fees and flexible hours. Reports showing changes in strength and balance are provided to management on a quarterly basis.

March 2009 - At the annual LSN (Life Services Network) conference in Chicago SimplyRehab also announced a multi-state project to help operators of skilled nursing facilities improve their ability to better predict which residents are at risk for falling. This program also includes measurements that lead to appropriate preventative actions for the at risk resident. F Falls among residents of skilled nursing facilities are a significant problem in the US with Medicare's cost of treating the injuries resulting from falls being close to $3 billion. Statistics gathered by CMS (The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services) report that for every 10 residents of nursing homes in the US, 5 falls are reported each year.

Under the leadership of Simply Rehab, 7 skilled nursing facilities in Illinois, Colorado and North Carolina have banded together to address this serious issue. The predictive methodology the company uses in this project is an extension of what the company has implemented with the SIMPLYFIT program but it has two components. One component predicts the risk for ambulating patients while the other predicts the risk for propelling (wheelchair bound) patients. This study incorporates a unique collection of predictive elements from the popular Berg Balance Scale Test taught in US Physical Therapy Programs along with improved predictive techniques reported by Oxford University in September of 2008. These techniques, known as AST (Alternate Step Test), STS-5(Sit to Stand 5 times) and the SMWT (Six Meter Walk Test) were used in a multi-year study conducted by researchers at the Prince of Wales Medical Research Institute in Randwick, Australia. In a study using 362 subjects aged 74-98 years, these methodologies proved to be superior to other popular techniques when predicting who would be a multiple faller.

Robert Kunio, project manager and Chief Operating Officer of Simply Rehab, stated that "skilled nursing facilities and assisted living facilities are under enormous pressure to reduce the frequency and cost of falls among their residents. Rather than focusing our efforts on helping our clients better react to falls, we have decided to concentrate our efforts on better predicting who is at risk and then taking appropriate preventive measures. The new techniques we have identified as part of our on going research efforts have produced impressive results in Australia and we are in the process of bringing these techniques to a small group of nursing homes and possibly some assisted living facilities in this country. Each participating institution in our study will use a slightly different version of our predictive tool kit and report the scores of those who fell over a 12-month period."

Elizabeth RothPresident of Simply Rehab, further commented that "We have now assembled and begun testing a collection of improved predictive techniques for both the ambulating (walking) population and the propelling (wheelchair bound) population. Our database has started giving us a good correlation between quarterly predictive scores and actual falls, which then allows us to fine tune the protocol on a regular basis for various segments of the geriatric population. The outcome of this effort should be an overall reduction of falls and the cost of falls to our clients, to Medicare and ultimately to the US taxpayers."

November, 2008 - SimplyRehab hosted a booth at the annual ASHA conference in Chicago and 6 of the company's full time SLP's will be attending and sharing booth duties.

April 4, 2008 - SimplyRehab sponsored a successful 7 Hour CE approved session at the Sheraton Hotel in Arlington Heights, Illinois called "ASSESSING AND TREATING THE COGNITIVELY IMPAIRED OLDER ADULT". Over 50 people attended with excellent feedback from all.
Key Course Objectives were:

1. Quickly assess a patient's cognitive level through 15 minutes of observation.
2. Identify treatment goals appropriate for each stage of dementia.
3. Demonstrate successful treatment approaches and techniques for early, middle and late state dementia.
4. Identify key strategies for management of cognitively impaired residents within the long-term care setting.

The instructor Linda Riccio, is a 25-year veteran of long-term care operations and clinical/programmatic development. An Occupational Therapist, Linda has been a national educator in neurological disorders, orthopedics and the management of special care populations. Both the Illinois Physical Therapy Association and the Illinois Occupational therapy Association approved this course for 7 contact hours. .

May 11, 2008 - SimplyRehab sponsored employees and friends in the Y-ME 5 K Race to Empowerin Chicago's Grant Park at 8 AM to help raise money for breast cancer research.

May 8, 2008 - SimplyRehab and The Lieberman center co-hosted an open house from 3 PM to 7 PM at the Lieberman Center, 9700 Gross Point Road in Skokie, Illinois to introduce therapists and students in the area to this prestigious, state-of-the-art facility. All licensed area therapists, students enrolled in Illinois or Wisconsin therapy programs and all academic fieldwork coordinators affiliated with SimplyRehab or the Lieberman Center were invited and several new therapists joined the team as a result of this event.at 8 AM to help raise money for breast cancer research.

April 10, 2008 - SimplyRehab and The Lieberman Center of Skokie, Illinois executed contracts that add this prestigious not-for-profit skilled nursing facility to our client list. This state-of-the-art 240-bed facility is part of the CJE (Council for Jewish Elderly) Senior Life collection of facilities that serves over 18,000 seniors each year. SimplyRehab begins managing the Therapy Department at the Lieberman Center on Thursday May 15. To apply for a position with SimplyRehab at the Lieberman Center just click on the "JOBS" tab. To learn more about CJE, visit www.CJE.net..

May 11, 2008 - SimplyRehab and The Lieberman Center of Skokie, Illinois executed contracts that add this prestigious not-for-profit skilled nursing facility to our client list. This state-of-the-art 240-bed facility is part of the CJE (Council for Jewish Elderly) Senior Life collection of facilities that serves over 18,000 seniors each year. SimplyRehab begins managing the Therapy Department at the Lieberman Center on Thursday May 15. To apply for a position with SimplyRehab at the Lieberman Center just click on the "JOBS" tab. To learn more about CJE, visit www.CJE.net.

April 4, 2008 - The Chief Operating Officer of SimplyRehab, Bob Kunio, spoke on benchmarking in the Long Term Care Industry at LSN's spring conference at Navy Pier in Chicago. The one hour presentation was well attended and included the case study describing how SimplyRehab has used benchmarking to identify best (and worst) practices and how it institutionalizes these best practices through on-going training and motivational programs.

November 2007 - SimplyRehab was featured in the cover story of NursingHomes Magazine. This article discussed how the company's use of benchmarking and its dedication to sharing best practices has produced state-of-the-art speech protocols that produce better patient outcomes and improved facility reimbursement. A link to this article http://www.entrepreneur.com/tradejournals/article/print/172910391.html