Steps To Managing A Family Health Crisis - Are You Prepared?
When a family heath crisis occurs, will you know what to do? When
your parent suffers an acute incident, life can change quickly, and there may be precious little time to figure out what needs to be done to take care of mom or dad.
If your assumption is that medicare will provide for mom or dad, you may be in for a surprise. Medicare only covers an “acute” medical episode. This means if mom has a stroke, Medicare will pay for her hospital stay until she is considered “medically stable”.
The definition of "Medically stable" is different when the burden of care rests with you. To the average person, "medically stable" may mean that Mom or Dad can take care of themself. This is not defined the same as "medically stable" to a doctor or a hospital. After the Ivs and heart monitors are no longer necessary a person is considered medically stable. The fact that that person can no longer toilet themselves, cook for themselves, walk up or down steps without the risk of falling, take medicines for themselves or be capable of living alone without catching the place on fire doesn't constitute medical necessity. This is when “long Term Care” or Elder Care is needed.
Who decides what mom needs to be able to live at home safely?
Who decides whether a nursing home, assisted living center or a home care agency is best?
Who pays for long term care and will your family be drained of all of its assets in doing so?
These are the answers that prn Health Service Inc provides free of charge. We will assess your family members long term care needs. We will work with the family on what is the best place for them to live now. If you want to keep them at home, whos home do they live at, what modifications need to be made so it is safe, what type of staffing is needed so that the primary family member can go to work and lead a normal life.
After a hospital discharge Medicare will provide up to three weeks of nursing , Nurse aide and therapy ( PT, OT ST) visits ( 1 hour or less) to assist the primary caregiver in learning how to care for mom and in getting the necessary equipment in the home (i.e. oxygen, hospital bed, bedside commode, walker etc) After that you may need a personal care aide to be with mom while you are out to make sure she is bathed, that she eats, that she takes her meds and treatments,that she doesn’t fall, that her oxygen doesn’t fall off, help with her laundry, coordinate md appointments etc.
This service along with nursing home stay and assisted living centers is not covered by Medicare and is what 90% of the elder population requires after a health crisis or a progressing disease that has left some permanent damage.
P.r.n. Health Service can connect families with community resources, medical assistance and elder care lawyers to help get this service paid for and to preserve family assets. Unfortunately no one looks into it until it happens and the clock starts ticking from the day of hospital admission to the day of discharge. This is a very short time to make long term care decisions, get payment arrangements made, learn how to parent your parent and pull comfortable trusting staff together to come into our home and help you.
prn is a home health care provider located in the Pittsburgh metro area, specializing in elder health, home health care, in-home health services and long term care.