my 96 year old mother fell at home and broke her hip. After surgery she went into a rehab center for therapy.She was doing quite well, getting stronger and walking with the aide or a walker,with the aid of her caregiver, She was there for 10 days when she needed to use the restroom and rang for help. her caregiver helped her to the edge of the bed, brought the walker to her bedside, My mom got up and took 3 steps and fell, Her caregiver was not assisting her in any way, no safety belt around her, nor hold her arm to help steady her. She complained of pain in her inner thigh and knee which was noticeably swollen, they gave her pain pills and continued with therapy.and did x rays and said nothing was broke, I finally called her family doctor and was told to get an appointment with her surgeon (which she had a follow up check up a week after the surgery.everything was healing nicely) I made the appointment for the next day and discovered a fracture in her inner thigh and the rod he previously put in had slipped onto her knee. He scheduled surgery that same evening which was a success to pull the rod back in place and put pins in. SHe is now in the hospital recovering. and waiting for the rehab center to ok it for her to go back,. My question is. Did medicare stop paying now that she was in the hospital, Will it start over again when she goes back to how many day they will pay. or are they going to just go by how many days she has left from when she first went in. she was admitted on Aug 17,2015 and fell on August 26th, 2015, she had her second surgery on Sept 10th, 2015, i am thinking about sending her to a different rehab since i am not happy with the care or lack of mand treatment she received after the fall by just giving her pain pills, no leg wraps or ice packs. I just want to know my options, Prior to her falling at home she was very independent. did her own cooking, cleaning, grocery shopping, paid her bills, balanced her checkbook, she her appointments, took her meds as schedules, she is very alert , and now If my mom needs home care or nursing home care, who is going to pay for this, she lives on SSC and that is it.. and yes i am going to seek legal advice on what are my options
Thank you for any information you can give me.
I would suggest that you ask for a medical review of her records while she's in the hospital (have her surgeon request the xrays from rehab).
We're you pleased with the therapy your mom was receiving before her fall? I would talk to the discharge planners at the Hospital as to whether the Medicare clock resets due to a second fall.
If you were not happy with the care your mom received I would not hesitate to find another rehab. Since this was a new injury, I would think the Medicard clock restarted. The social worker or patient billing would be able to tell you.