Can hospital refuse to admit my mother-in-law just because my brother called 911 and went to be with her?
My MIL had mild dementia but went in to full hallucinations and couldnt be controlled since we live out of state (husband only child) I had my brother go stay with her until I could arrange for home care. He had to call 911 since he could not get her under control, she would not sleep, kept trying to go outside to the people and many people she was seeing in the house so by midnight called me, I told him to call 911. ER doc said she had dementia w/hallucinations needs 24/7 care. I said to admit her and he said Medicare will not pay if there is someone she can be released to (my brother) and if EMTs had brought her in alone then he could admit her. She has gotten much better and now on medicade program (has no assets) now has daily caregiver help for limited hours but is I think hallucinations may be coming back. What if she goes off deep end again or falls and breaks a limb, do I just call 911 and have her go to hospital and not have someone go see her otherwise they may not admit her. I am confused why she should not be admitted when she obviously needed help but unfortunately my brother (no blood relative to her) was there at my request. We do not have funds for 24/7 care they were all used up within the first two months. Any suggestions will be appreciated.
If she falls and she seems OK except you are worried she might have broken something, she should probably go to her regular doctor's office if it is during office hours. That clinic should at least be called and asked for advice before taking her to an ER. If it is after hours or her clinic advises that she should go to an ER, then they would probably treat the injury and send her home unless the nature of the injury required hospital level treatment. If they set a broken arm and put her in a cast and say that someone has to help her with her meals, that is not likely to be something they would put her in the hospital for. It does not take someone with extensive medical training or fancy equipement to help with feedings.
It is really good that she is now on Medicaid. That is where the funds for 24/7 care will come from. 24/7 care would usually be provided in a nursing home. Less extensive care might be paid for in the home, as MIL has her daily caregiver now. There is probably a case worker who evaluates her needs on a regular basis, and who can be called if needs change between visits.
Is your MIL being seen by a dementia specialist? That who should be treating/advising about the hallucinations.
This is really difficult to manage from another state, isn't it? My heart goes out to you.