Yes they can. When I asked a doctor in a out of State hospital to call Moms PCP I was told that Mom was now her patient and as such she would make the decisions. I think this is so wrong. Any type of Dr. should be working with the PCP concerning a patient's health. I think less mistakes would be made.
Mom was in the hospital and then rehab. I did not get a Care meeting until just before Mom was discharged. They rambled off her meds and her Thyroid was missing. Long story why but I tracked it to the hospital. Seems the doctor there took it upon himself to stop it because her labs looked good. Her labs looked good because of her meds. She was going to a specialist. No one asked me why she went two days before another dose? Or bothered to call the specialist. Another time she was given an antibiotic that had penicillin in it that Mom was allergic to. Which this same hospital had found on a previous admission and had in THEIR records. Wanted to do a dye test. Good thing the NP said would need to check Moms kidneys when I was there. I told her Mom only had one and that worked only 40%. Using the dye would have effected what was left of Moms kidney function. She had that surgery at THAT hospital so they also had that on record.
My Uncle almost died from an allergic reaction to a new lung medication. He was sent to rehab to get his strength back. My Aunt was there most if the time. Both her and my Uncle asked what he was being given when given his meds. A nurse came in to give him a med by IV. My Aunt asked what it was. It was the same med that he was allergic to that he almost died from.
So what I am saying, you need to be on top of everything. If this is just a short stay, get your LO to his PCP ASAP after discharge to go over meds that have been added or changed. Really, I have found with short stays Rehab usually goes by orders from the Hospital the person was discharged from. Like with Moms Thyroid med. Rehab saw it listed but felt since the Hospital had stopped it they saw no reason to question it.
Short stays your PCP should be involved with any changes, IMO. If its permanent then you may need to allow the facilities Dr. to take over the care. I had 3 doctors to choose from when Mom entered a NH. I picked the one who was Moms PCP back up for vacations and hospital stays. Moms PCP chose not to have privileges at our local Hospital.
I wrote a letter to the director of the NH my mother was in after her stroke. In it, I told them in no uncertain terms that they could not stop or start any meds or therapies (PT,OT. ST) with consulting me first. In addition, they could not transport her away from the facility, without consulting me. The only exception was a life threatening emergency, and in that case, they had to notify within one hour. I made them put the letter as the first page of her chart, and the first page in the medications section. I had to do this because I just happened to be there the day they were going to give her a tetanus shot, because they could not find any record of when she had last had one. The only problem with that was my mom was allergic to the horse serum in the vaccination. It would have probably killed her.
And it was in her record that she was allergic, right? This would have been a nice lawsuit. They are so big on needing to know what meds they are on, what ones the are allergic too. My Mom would have died a couple of times because her medical records were not looked at. And, each time it was the same hospital she had had these problems discovered. I hate that PCPs are not kept in the loop concerning their patients care.
Absolutely yes. MD medical director of NH almost always becomes the primary physician once a FT resident in LTC. Should be in admissions contract.
A resident can still go & see thier old doctors if they want to; and they &/or you arrange for transportation for this. BUT there will be a conflict if old MD orders new or wants old prescriptions done / refilled or orders skilled services like OT or PT. NH does not have to fill those RX or dispense old meds or have those therapies done just because 😏 old MD writes them. It can be taken into consideration but its the MD of NH decision. All RX need to come through the pharmacy the NH uses by & large. NH can make exceptions for meds they got discharged from a hospital with or it’s a med not on the formulary carried by the pharmacy this NH is under contract with.
What has happened is the NH MD has evaluated her and made a decision to change her meds. She is under the care of the NH now. You as her POA can request a care plan meeting to discuss your moms care. If she is new into this NH, there will be one coming up soon. But you can send in writing a letter to the DON & SW to get it scheduled ASAP.
Please please realize that if you bring in medications, even OTC ones like Zyrtec, that were not ordered thru or ok’d by the NH, they can be confiscated.
staff docs at the nursing home I was in did not consult with my PCP. These same docs would not send my PCP any records. My PCP got portions of my records from the hospital where I had my ankle surgeries. My meds were a mess when I left the nursing home. check if they consult with your PCP.
Most likely the change was ordered either over the phone after consulting with her PCP or the facility doctor ordered a change probably with a note in her medical record that they were unable to contact her PCP and the change was necessary.
A little more detail might help. What was she on and what change was made? And what was the reason given for the change.
Mom was in the hospital and then rehab. I did not get a Care meeting until just before Mom was discharged. They rambled off her meds and her Thyroid was missing. Long story why but I tracked it to the hospital. Seems the doctor there took it upon himself to stop it because her labs looked good. Her labs looked good because of her meds. She was going to a specialist. No one asked me why she went two days before another dose? Or bothered to call the specialist. Another time she was given an antibiotic that had penicillin in it that Mom was allergic to. Which this same hospital had found on a previous admission and had in THEIR records. Wanted to do a dye test. Good thing the NP said would need to check Moms kidneys when I was there. I told her Mom only had one and that worked only 40%. Using the dye would have effected what was left of Moms kidney function. She had that surgery at THAT hospital so they also had that on record.
My Uncle almost died from an allergic reaction to a new lung medication. He was sent to rehab to get his strength back. My Aunt was there most if the time. Both her and my Uncle asked what he was being given when given his meds. A nurse came in to give him a med by IV. My Aunt asked what it was. It was the same med that he was allergic to that he almost died from.
So what I am saying, you need to be on top of everything. If this is just a short stay, get your LO to his PCP ASAP after discharge to go over meds that have been added or changed. Really, I have found with short stays Rehab usually goes by orders from the Hospital the person was discharged from. Like with Moms Thyroid med. Rehab saw it listed but felt since the Hospital had stopped it they saw no reason to question it.
Short stays your PCP should be involved with any changes, IMO. If its permanent then you may need to allow the facilities Dr. to take over the care. I had 3 doctors to choose from when Mom entered a NH. I picked the one who was Moms PCP back up for vacations and hospital stays. Moms PCP chose not to have privileges at our local Hospital.
I had to do this because I just happened to be there the day they were going to give her a tetanus shot, because they could not find any record of when she had last had one. The only problem with that was my mom was allergic to the horse serum in the vaccination. It would have probably killed her.
A resident can still go & see thier old doctors if they want to; and they &/or you arrange for transportation for this.
BUT
there will be a conflict if old MD orders new or wants old prescriptions done / refilled or orders skilled services like OT or PT. NH does not have to fill those RX or dispense old meds or have those therapies done just because 😏 old MD writes them. It can be taken into consideration but its the MD of NH decision. All RX need to come through the pharmacy the NH uses by & large. NH can make exceptions for meds they got discharged from a hospital with or it’s a med not on the formulary carried by the pharmacy this NH is under contract with.
What has happened is the NH MD has evaluated her and made a decision to change her meds. She is under the care of the NH now. You as her POA can request a care plan meeting to discuss your moms care. If she is new into this NH, there will be one coming up soon. But you can send in writing a letter to the DON & SW to get it scheduled ASAP.
Please please realize that if you bring in medications, even OTC ones like Zyrtec, that were not ordered thru or ok’d by the NH, they can be confiscated.
A little more detail might help. What was she on and what change was made? And what was the reason given for the change.