Can a Hospital Force a Patient To Go To a Nursing Home (SNF) Or Prevent You From Leaving One?

Many elderly patients get admitted to the hospital with profound weakness due to their acute and chronic medical conditions. Many of them will leave the hospital with profound weakness from their acute and chronic medical conditions (and unfortunately without a palliative care consult). In many situations, these patients will be too weak to take care of themselves. They will need extra help with their activities of daily living either from family or from trained home health care representatives. Patients who cannot safely return to the community often need to transition through a nursing home (with skilled nurses) before returning home. These are called skilled nursing facilities, or SNF for short (prounounced sniff).If you're going to a SNF, that means you're going to a nursing home to receive a combination of physical therapy, occupational therapy, speech therapy or other therapies intended to get you back to the community. This SNF status is paid for by the Medicare National Bank and your supplemental insurance for up to100 days per benefit period.  There are many rules that must be met in order for Medicare to pay for these benefits, but that's the subject of another discussion.Let us say you or your family member has met the criteria to have their SNF benefits paid for by Medicare. Let us say the physical and occupational therapists at the hospital you have been admitted to are recommending that you or your loved one transitio...
Source: The Happy Hospitalist - Category: Internal Medicine Authors: Source Type: blogs