Observation vs admitted — True Story
Hi Terry, I sent you a note before but I don’t think it went through. I’m inquiring about my next-door neighbor who was taken into Bolingbrook hospital after seeing her doctor. Her doctor didn’t want her to go home. She wanted her to be going right into the hospital, she has two daughters, and neither one of them knew about observation, as opposed to admitting. Anyway, they had her in emergency then they transferred her into a room.
They kept her for the three days ..they did a many many tests and then they actually released her to go across the street to the nursing home. They wanted $30 to take her across the street, so one of the daughters said I will just wheel mom in her wheelchair which she did. When they got to the nursing home, they got her into a room and she supposed to be there for physical therapy.
The next day one of the girls got a phone call from the Meadowbrook Manor nursing home Asking for payment they said we’re going to charge your mother $250 a day because her insurance is not gonna cover this. She has Blue Cross Blue Shield but Medicare is her primary. I know they’ve made a big mistake but is there any way they can rectify this. I told the girls I would contact you because I said in the past I’ve gotten good replies from you and you’ve helped me a lot . So they and I are grateful for anything you can suggest thank you so much Terry. Marge
Terry Says
please have the daughters send me an email with the information — the name of the hospital that did this, the name of the patient, and the dates of the observation.
The hospital won’t talk to me about a specific patient, but I will call and raise hell and give them some bad publicity!
And have the daughters include their contact phone info.
This is EXACTLY why I wrote that column!
