Second encounter with CMC University.
1- NURSING CARE WAS EXCEPTIONAL THIS TIME AROUND - at least on the fourth floor. Nurses were attentive, caring, professional and competent.
2- BEWARE OF AGGRESSIVE DISCHARGE PLANNING. Medicare pays hospitals on the basis of something called DRGs. In essence, Medicare tells the hospital what they will pay for and for how long. If the hospital stay falls outside of these guidelines, the hospital loses money. With the new quality incentives imposed by Medicare, discharge planning has become more aggressive.
My father was given misleading information concerning hospice bed availability in an effort to move him out of the hospital and into another facility during the last 15 hours of his life. This was very traumatic to my family.
If given the opportunity to redo my decision, I would have refused moving my father to another facility so that CMC profitability might be enhanced. There was no reason to move my father aside from AGGRESSIVE DISCHARGE PLANNING in association with misleading information.
Bottom line: Consider the following link: http://www.canhr.org/factsheets/nh_fs/html/fs_challengingdischarge.htm.
Just say NO if do not feel that your goals are inconsistent with the pressure exerted
from DISCHARGE PLANNING.
Be smart and live well.