Rehab at Nursing Home. What kind of questions should I be asking?

My mom was placed in a Skilled Nursing facility also for rehab and I was told the same thing but after a few weeks went by I was told that she was not showing any progress and that was reported to the insurance co, and next thing I knew I receive a letter stating that she was no longer receiving Skilled Nursing nor therapy. I think its a lot of BS. I have taken her out of there and she is doing a 100% better.

Medicare pays for the first 20 days 100%. 21 to 100, 50% then either the patient pays the balance or hopefully his supplimental picks up all or partial. This should have been explained to you upon admittance. But since u were probably not allowed into the facility at the time, ask that someone call you to explain Moms financial responsibility.

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.

My dad did rehab at nursing homes a good number of times. The quality of the rehab definitely varied. Overall, I’d say the expectations of the therapy staff aren’t high. They are accustomed to working with a population that’s challenging, often losing skills, and some don’t do much aggressive or proactive therapy as a result. It also depends on your father’s motivation in getting back to his baseline. Ask how long he is expected to be kept, how often progress will be assessed (they have to be able to document progress to continue) if there is therapy on weekends (it’s often less or sometimes none) how they’re doing with keeping Covid out of the facility, how much he’s cooperating with therapy, if there can be orders for home therapy upon release, and how often therapy will happen. Be aware that he can decline to participate, setting back progress. My dad did this a number of times, being tired or some other reason. The therapists usually will try again but don’t force the issue. Hope your dad does well!

Rehab in a nursing home pales in comparison to rehab in an actual rehab facility. My mom had both varieties. The nursing home one, it was basically a ghost town on weekend with next to nothing but med distribution being done. On the week days, 1 session per day. Pitiful.

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.