Les textes réglementant l’activité en soins de suite et de réadaptation du décret du 9 mars 1956 aux décrets du 17 avril 2008. Place de la médecine physique et de réadaptation

In France, inpatient care is provided in three different sectors: “medicine, surgery and obstetrics”, “follow-up care and rehabilitation” (soins de suite et de réadaptation = SSR) and “long-term care”. Physical medicine and rehabilitation is involved mainly in SSR. As of April 2008, there are new regulations aiming to improve prior texts, to implement rules that will be identical for public and private sectors and to prepare for the new payment-by-the-act funding system (in place of the prior global funding). Now, all SSR structures have a common general basis in terms of purpose and means and specific rules for various specialties. For example, coordination of a multidisciplinary team in specialized facilities dealing with musculoskeletal and nervous system disorders must be conducted by a physical medicine and rehabilitation (PMR) specialist. Patient admission criteria still need to be defined, as does the assessment of therapeutic objectives. The expertise of SSR facilities is recognized by the possibility of direct admission from home for ambulatory patients. Nevertheless, many specifics are missing in these new decrees. These specifications will be elaborated on a regional basis, in future endeavours within regional healthcare organizations.