An inpatient rehabilitation facility (IRF) delivers intensive, physician-supervised therapy — about three hours a day — for people recovering from a stroke, injury, or major surgery. It is a hospital level of rehab, not a nursing home. CMS certifies 1,221 IRFs across 52 states and territories.
What an IRF is
An IRF is either a free-standing rehabilitation hospital or a distinct rehab unit within an acute-care hospital. What sets it apart is intensity: an interdisciplinary team — physiatry, physical, occupational, and speech therapy, and rehabilitation nursing — works with the patient on an aggressive schedule, with a rehabilitation physician overseeing care throughout the stay. The model is built for rapid, measurable functional recovery.
Who it is for
IRF care suits people who need and can tolerate intensive therapy and have a realistic chance of meaningful improvement. Typical admissions follow a stroke, a spinal cord or traumatic brain injury, major multiple trauma, an amputation, or certain complex orthopedic surgeries. The requirement to participate in roughly three hours of therapy a day is the practical line between IRF-appropriate and lower-intensity post-acute care.
IRF vs skilled nursing
- Hospital-level, ~3 hours therapy/day
- Daily rehabilitation-physician oversight
- Short, intensive stays
- 1,221 certified facilities
- Lower, flexible therapy intensity
- Longer nursing-focused stays
- Broad post-acute and long-term care
- 14,699 certified facilities
The choice usually comes down to how much therapy a person can tolerate and how much nursing care they need around it. Many recover in a SNF; those who need hospital-level rehab go to an IRF.
What Medicare covers
Medicare Part A covers a medically necessary IRF stay similarly to an acute-hospital stay, subject to the inpatient deductible and any coinsurance. Coverage hinges on meeting the IRF criteria — the intensity of therapy needed and the expectation of improvement — documented by the rehabilitation team. Because it is a hospital-level benefit, it is distinct from the skilled nursing-facility benefit.
How CMS measures IRFs
IRFs do not carry a single five-star rating. Instead, CMS publishes individual quality measures — functional outcomes, complication and readmission indicators, and reporting compliance — on Care Compare. Reading those measures, rather than a headline score, is the honest way to compare facilities. Displayed values include available CMS source metadata.
By the numbers
Compare IRFs
Browse loaded certified inpatient rehab facilities and their available quality measures. Supported fields display available CMS source and snapshot metadata.
Browse IRF data →Frequently asked questions
- What is an inpatient rehabilitation facility?
- An inpatient rehabilitation facility (IRF) is a Medicare-certified hospital or hospital unit that delivers intensive, physician-supervised rehabilitation — typically about three hours of therapy a day — for people recovering from a stroke, injury, or major surgery. CMS lists 1,221 certified IRFs across 52 states and territories.
- How is an IRF different from a skilled nursing facility?
- An IRF provides hospital-level rehabilitation at a high intensity — multiple therapy disciplines, daily physician oversight, and 24-hour rehabilitation nursing. A skilled nursing facility offers a lower, more flexible therapy intensity alongside longer-term nursing care. There are far fewer IRFs (1,221) than nursing homes (14,699) because the IRF level of care is reserved for people who can tolerate and benefit from intensive therapy.
- Who qualifies for an IRF?
- IRF care is for people who need and can participate in intensive rehabilitation — generally the ability to tolerate around three hours of therapy a day, a need for at least two therapy disciplines, close physician supervision, and a reasonable expectation of meaningful functional improvement. Common reasons include stroke, spinal cord or brain injury, major multiple trauma, and certain joint replacements.
- Does Medicare cover inpatient rehabilitation?
- Yes. Medicare Part A covers a medically necessary IRF stay much like an acute-hospital stay, subject to the inpatient deductible and any applicable coinsurance. Coverage depends on meeting the IRF criteria — the intensity of therapy required and the expectation of improvement — documented by the rehabilitation team.
- How long is a typical IRF stay?
- IRF stays are usually measured in days to a few weeks, much shorter than a long-term nursing-home stay, because the goal is concentrated functional recovery before the person returns home or steps down to a lower level of care. The exact length depends on the condition, progress, and the rehabilitation plan.
- How do I compare inpatient rehabilitation facilities?
- Certified IRFs report quality measures on CMS Care Compare, and Fonteum mirrors loaded records with available source and snapshot metadata displayed on supported fields. You can compare facilities on the published measures and confirm a facility's certification status against the federal source rather than relying on marketing.
Related
- What is a long-term acute-care hospital? — the other hospital-level post-acute setting.
- What is a skilled nursing facility (SNF)? — the lower-intensity post-acute option.
- Home health vs. skilled nursing — recovering at home versus in a facility.
- What Medicare certification means — how an IRF becomes a certified Medicare provider.
- Inpatient rehab facility data — per-facility CMS quality measures with provenance.
- The CMS Five-Star Quality Rating — which settings carry a star, and which do not.