Personal Senior Advocates

Karen’s Safe Discharge

Karen called our office and explained that, following a fall at home and a hospitalization, her mother was now in a Skilled Nursing Facility receiving physical therapy. Karen lives out of state and was concerned her mother was being discharged too soon and is she does not know how to help her mother.

With Karen’s assistance, we assembled the Client Profile and made a visit to the facility. We met with Karen’s mother and explained that we would be able to assist her with her pending discharge. Working with the facility staff, PSA was able to provide Transition Assistance services and the discharge process was a successful team effort. We negotiated a delayed date for discharge that would be in the best interest of Karen’s mother and that allowed her stay and meet her therapy goals.

Following her mothers discharge Karen decided to have PSA provide Care Management visits to assure that her mother would be safe and supported as she continued her recovery at home. With a clear understanding of what to expect both Karen and her mother felt prepared and empowered for the next steps of the recovery process.

28% of hospitalizations of Seniors are caused by medication errors.

Unscrupulous medical billing practices will often reflect a “balance due” on a bill when the insurance company has already been billed.

Discharge planning begins when you arrive at the hospital, and you should be included in the planning process.

Privately paid caregivers that provide care in your home are not legally allowed to assist you with your medications.

Bet you didn’t know that having great insurance can actually be dangerous.

Without an Health Care Directive, if you are unable to speak for yourself, the medical facility will make ALL treatment decisions for you.

Why do they take photos of your body when you’re admitted to a nursing home/rehab facility?

A new patient has their belongings logged by the staff. The same staff reconciles the list. See The Potential Problem?

Why would anyone need to leave a nursing home to go to a doctor’s appointment?

When Seniors are discharged from a hospital, they are told they are going to “Rehab”. No one tells them that this really means they are going to a Nursing Home.

The ratio of patient to staff in a medical facility is not regulated.

When you are in the hospital, you may request that routine lab work be done during your waking hours, not the middle of the night.

Seniors can be stuck with large medical bills when the hospital doesn’t Admit them. Admission vs. Observation?

Drug resistant infections acquired during a hospital stay have increased 230% since 2001.

You have guaranteed rights as a patient? Do you know what they are?

Premature discharges lead to 40% of post-op complications occurring at home.

Legally a facility doctor in a Nursing Home only has to see a patient once every 30 days unless the nurse notes in your chart that an issue requires the doctor’s attention.

When an elderly person has urinary tract infection, it is common for them to have “dementia like” symptoms.