Finally, Access in New Jersey Has Eased. For individuals on hospice, medical marijuana may be the only drug that brings relief from pain while giving quality of life at the end-of-life. This was the experience of Jake Honig, a little boy who died at the age of seven after living with brain cancer for five years. During those years, Jake went through two surgeries, 61 rounds … [Read more...]
What to Know about Aging in Place: Home Health Care vs. Home Care
Let me introduce you to the work of Dr. Leslie Kernisan, MD MPH Dr. Kernisan is the founder of "Better Health While Aging", where you will find practical information for family caregivers. She writes in-depth medical articles like 8 Things to Have the Doctor Check After an Aging Person Falls and Hospital Delirium: What to Know & Do. In addition, Dr. Kernisan's podcast is … [Read more...]
Making Patient and Family Centered Care a Reality
Once-and-done changes any hospital can make. When my father was in the intensive care unit for congestive heart failure, I practically lived at that hospital. Knowing that every patient needs a full-time advocate, I was onsite by 7:00 am to catch his doctors on rounds. I would go home over lunch while someone else visited, back before dinner until 7:30. All while working … [Read more...]
Hospital discharge can happen very quickly. Will you be ready?
Start preparing for discharge the day your loved one enters a care facility. Most people unfamiliar with the healthcare system are under the misconception that hospital discharge occurs when your loved one is back to normal or when the family is ready. The reality is that discharge from an acute care hospital occurs when the acute medical crisis is stabilized, can be handled … [Read more...]
Medicare, Private Insurance, Long Term Care Insurance, Private Pay – Who Pays for Which Care Facility and For How Long?
If you think the alphabet soup of care facilities is confusing, let’s talk about payment. Note: Healthcare payments are constantly changing. This article summarizes the status as of September 2018, is geared toward those over 75 and deals with primarily with Medicare. This is not a comprehensive analysis / reporting of private insurance regulation. (Jump to Acute Care … [Read more...]