My father has been admitted to a rehab facility after a set back from gallbladder surgery. They admitted him last Friday night and initially we were told he would receive rehab 7 days a week 3 times a day. He received a little walking on Saturday and some leg exercises but, nothing on Sunday and still nothing today (Monday). They had to admit my Dad in the 14 day "yellow zone" for Covid precautions (he does not have Covid and we understand that this is normal procedure).
My mother received a call from the director at the nursing home and stated that she will do a conference call with us tomorrow with the Care Mgt. team. What kind of questions should I be asking? Someone told us that rehab is only covered for 5-7 days...is this true? Any help/experience to assist me would be greatly appreciated.
In my area Rehabs are attached to the Nursing Homes. They have their separate part of the building. The only separate ones are outpatient.
My first question would be, why is he not getting the therapy you were told he would receive. My parents had rehab on weekends usually 2x a day, morning and afternoon. Maybe Dad is too weak for the more strenuous therapy. His progress has to be documented with Medicare. They determine how long his stay will be based on his progress. People do plateau meaning they have gotten as far as therapy can take them.
For someone getting their strength back after a hospital stay, its 3 days of therapy for every day spent in the hospital. That would have been 12 days for my Mom, she was realeased in 18 days. Going in I told admitting there was no money for a stay longer than the 20 days Medicare allowed. I was told she never would walk again without assistance. Within 24 hrs of her returning back to her AL, she was walking with her walker all around the facility with no problem.
At rehab and eventually the nursing home , all my care conferences consisted of the staff telling me what they were doing concerning Moms care. They allowed 15 min for this meeting. Not enough time to ask questions.
Don't know how long his stay should be covered for. Usually depends on how many days he spent in the hospital. After 2 or 3 nights, I think 3 weeks covered in a nursing home.