Looking for someone in Carrolton TX for a friend of a friend who is on Hospice and needs some help. Let me know if you are from there and interested or know someone.

Thanks

Anne Llewellyn
954-254-2950

Also on this important topic, I am wondering if anybody has used a VPN or other tech tools (other than deleting cookies?) to assist with accessing through the portal. I am encountering major firewall type issues with one health plan. I am convinced I am on a blacklist. I have multiple clients and I opt not to save passwords obviously but…[Read more]

Great post and information! Io, are you willing to share your form so we know some items to include? Thanks!

Good morning Cheryl,

My client is currently bedbound due to bilateral fractures in her legs so she requires a lot of assistance. She is receiving PT/OT in the hospital with plans to have therapies in the home. Ideally she would go to a SNF but she has been down that road before and is very adamant that she wants to go home. I know 8 hours of home…[Read more]

Speaking from a PT perspective: what’s her current mobility? What ortho precautions does she have? Sounds like she’d have a max of 12 hrs/day assistance at home. How will she manage the other 12? Here in the Seattle area, home aides are mighty tough to come by. 8 hrs/day 7 days/week is an awfully tall order that might not be able to be staffed,…[Read more]

Hi Donna,

I recommend obtaining the hospital grievance procedure so that you can use it to challenge both the discharge plan and the care concern. Ask for any appeals to be expedited and don’t hesitate to use the words “duty of care”.

You need back up on the care/possible negligence point. Check the intake paperwork, if it is a psych ward…[Read more]

Also, I have gotten the name of the home health agency to coordinate when they will be coming out for evaluation so that it is all set up in advance and days do not lapse.
The home health evaluates in the home. I have not seen them evaluate prior to discharge. The discharge instructions should indicate it is set up and the number should be provided.

1) She is not allowed visitors. -She needs to have their names on list to give permission. They can not confirm a patient is there-that can not deny visitors unless there is a safety issue imminently happening
2) She is not allowed a phone in her room-that is not unusual not to have a phone in room but, they have to have some access-usually a…[Read more]

I would contact the hospital legal department and let them know what Medicare is saying and document who from Medicare you are talking to. They are violating her informed consent and that is serious enough to get the legal department involved, along with the fact they will not give her food. They are trying to weaken her so she has to go to a…[Read more]

Ah! I read that as looking for an additional 8 hrs a day and connected it to the PT/OT statement. It sounds to me as though she is in a psych unit which is why the restrictions are in place-those are always in place in a psych unit.
Good luck!

Just to clarify, Medicare will pay up to 8 hours per day for a home health aid, so with the 28 hours she already receives under a different program, the hours would be more than sufficient to return home safely. I’m not quite sure why they only offered SNF as an option when she has been saying since the start that she wanted to go home.

I do…[Read more]

Oy. What a mess!
I have a number or concerns about any plan that would approve 8 hrs a day of therapy. Never heard of that in 44 years of nursing. outside of that, I think your next step would be to speak to the VP or President or VP of the facility. Or the CEO. Are they even aware of what is being said about directives coming from them?…[Read more]

I respect your position, AnnMarie. I believe our difference is I feel a responsibility to our industry as well as to our company and clients. I enjoy exchanges such as these because they are thoughtful and more than one single opinion matters.

Not sure if this was the best decision or not but I decided to redesign my website myself still using Wix. I haven’t quite finished it but hope to publish the new site this week. I did have two offers to redesign it, one at $50/hour and the other at $90/hour. The next redesign or tweak will have to be done by a professional!