Bridge therapy

Content sourced from Wikipedia, licensed under CC BY-SA 3.0.

Bridge therapy is short-term treatment that helps a patient get to the next stage of care or recovery after a difficult period caused by serious illness. It’s a temporary step, not the final goal.

Common types include:
- bridge to transplant
- bridge to candidacy
- bridge to decision
- bridge to recovery
- anticoagulation bridge (for example, using heparin)

Bridge therapy is different from destination therapy, which aims to be the end goal of treatment.

A related idea is linkage to care: helping people connect to ongoing treatment after screenings (for example, for high blood pressure or diabetes). People who haven’t seen a doctor in years can get help finding a new doctor and care.