| How do you know when it's time to find a nursing | | | | your loved one.Your challenge now becomes |
| home for your loved one? This is the hardest and | | | | deciding which nursing home you will place your |
| easiest of questions to answer or so it would | | | | loved one in, within the time allocated by the |
| seem. Let me explain. There are primarily two | | | | hospital. Note that the reason the hospital is |
| approaches to requiring nursing home | | | | pushing you to transfer your loved one to a |
| care.Approach Number One: A fall occurs and a | | | | nursing home is money. The reimbursement for |
| hip is broken or the loved one may have had a | | | | the care received is about to run out. Keep this in |
| stroke, a heart attack or pneumonia. These are | | | | the back of your mind; the hospital will find it |
| examples of medical conditions that require | | | | extremely difficult to force your loved one into a |
| hospitalization. Up until this point admission to a | | | | nursing home that you are not agreeable with or |
| nursing home has never been considered. The | | | | that is out of your neighborhood, at an |
| hospital has finished caring for the immediate | | | | unreasonable distance for you to travel.The best |
| medical need and now you are contacted by the | | | | way to avoid confrontation with the hospital is to |
| hospital discharge planner and told that your loved | | | | have a discussion with the discharge planner about |
| one will be discharged to a nursing home for | | | | which nursing homes have the best reputation in |
| rehabilation within a few days. They give you a list | | | | the area and in which one the discharge planner |
| of nursing homes in your area and say good luck | | | | would place their loved one. After you visit each |
| in your search.If you are lucky, area nursing | | | | facility talk with the discharge planner about your |
| homes will have their admission coordinators | | | | observations, how you were received and your |
| visiting the hospitals daily to "shop for residents." | | | | likes and dislikes about the facility.As long as the |
| The nursing home admission coordinator will look | | | | hospital knows you are making a good faith effort |
| at your loved one's medical file and determine if | | | | to transfer your loved one to a nusing home they |
| the care required and the estimated length of | | | | will be less likely to put pressure on you. You |
| stay will fit the nursing home's patient mix. The | | | | have enough pressure on you at this point. You |
| nursing home wants to balance the needs of your | | | | don't want to go looking for more. Your primary |
| loved one with the current demands of their | | | | goal is to find a great nursing home for your |
| residents both medically and for staff availability. | | | | loved one.The decision to admit your loved one to |
| The nursing home will also look at how the care | | | | a nursing home has been made for you by an |
| will be paid for. Keep in mind that the nursing | | | | unexpected medical condition; that's the easy part. |
| home can't discriminate aginist admitting your | | | | Whether the stay in the nursing home is short or |
| loved one based upon how the care will be paid | | | | long term the process of finding a great nursing |
| for, whether it's Medicare, Medicaid, long-term | | | | home is the same, but in this case time is of the |
| care insurance, an HMO, private funds or other | | | | essence.In the next essay Iwill dicuss approach |
| payment plans.Nursing homes, like other | | | | number two; a planned admission to a nursing |
| businesses have bills to pay, not the least of | | | | home.Also feel free to send any questions you |
| which is payroll. So naturally they will look for the | | | | have about nursing home admission to Be sure to |
| maximum reimbursement possible to care for | | | | put "questions GNHS" in the subject line! |