From Sal Rasa, im21

So, I am back in a New Jersey Hospital helping a relative and his wife with a late night admission.

Re admission actually.

including one difficult rehab stay with return to the hospital.

Parkinsons, Stenosis, and a couple of other factors including Bi Polar 1, Type 2 diabetes.

Several of his providers office managers tell the family that it takes up to 10 days to provide test results, visit updates, insurance issues to pass along to his different doctors.

First emergency room sent him home at 2 AM with a pain prescription after a fall. Only his 70 year old wife at home to care for him

One week later back to a different ER via ambulance after second fall.
he had been taking the pain prescription from the previous ER. New ER determined it was an inappropriate for him.

80 years old in terrible pain, difficulty in breathing, not able to move and only wife at home. She is a caretaker who refuses at home help. Doesn’t see the need she says.

Bottom line. I show up at their home to meet the ambulance. It took four of us just to get him from the house to the ambulance because of his intense pain.

We arrive at the ER. After a quick X Ray, the nurse practitioner determines that he is not approved to be admitted. When I ask why, she responds “with Obamacare, Medicare will never approve the admission”. Yes, she said that.

Checked directly with a Medicare expert and a doctor I know and was told “they are not telling you the truth”. He should be admitted.

Once I said that to the Nurse Practitioner she got on the phone and suddenly became more of an advocate. He was admitted.

Following his hospital stay he was transported to a NJ Rehab that is rated 5 stars.

When he arrived, I spoke with the admission staff to express my concerns. I said — I notice it’s 7 PM and you have 7 new admissions at the front desk and you are swamped filling out paper work.

Is he going to get the attention he needs here tonight?

Of course, they assured me that he would be fine. I drove back to NYC where I live. At 1:30 AM I got the call that he had fallen out of bed, was injured and headed back to the hospital. The guard on the bed had never been put into position.

NJ has had a Transitions of Care Form for several years.

No one I spoke with at any of the three facilities even knew about it.