SummerHope Asked July 30, 2024
Admission department from nursing home is asking for medical clearance from my parent's doctor. What does this mean?
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I noticed in my parent's chart that admission staff from a nursing home are asking for a medical clearance from the doctor, I sense in an official form. It states to the effect "Form was provided to me (the doctor) for this patient for medical clearance for her to move into a nursing home." Does anyone know what this means? For example, is the admission in process and possibly initial or final papers from the POA signed?
The POA is not currently communicating with the rest of the adult children else I would ask them directly. The POA has wanted the parent whose health care proxy has been invoked due to cognition issues to be admitted into a nursing home for about a year.
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How Does a Nursing Home Admissions Process Work?
February 11, 2022
After you have vetted and toured long-term skilled care communities and nursing homes for your parent, you may be wondering: What’s next? How does the admission process work? What paperwork do I need?
The actual admission process can feel overwhelming, as there is often a lot of paperwork that will need to be gathered, filled out, and signed before your parent can move into a nursing home. However, take a deep breath and rely on the admissions specialist at the community you choose to help you through the process.
You can also use this article as a guide to help you prepare. Here’s what you can expect.
Admission Paperwork for Long-Term Skilled Nursing Care
1. A physician’s order for admission. This is a medical confirmation that your parent needs a long-term, skilled level of care. Typically, the order for your parent to be admitted into long-term skilled nursing care will come from your parent’s primary physician or the attending doctor if they have been in the hospital.
2. A state-required form certifying your parent meets nursing home criteria. Each state has its own required form. The hospital or your primary care physician will fill out and sign this form.
3. Physician’s orders for treatment, occupational therapies, and any needed rehabilitation.
4. A detailed list of all prescriptions, medications, and dosages.
5. Medical history and physical results so attending physicians and nurses have the most up-to-date information on your parent. Your parent’s primary care physician should be able to supply this.
6. Contact information for health care providers, family members, and other emergency contacts.
7. Basic information about your parent’s daily routine and activities.
8. Negative tuberculosis (TB) test or chest X-ray. TB is an airborne communicable disease, and skilled nursing care facilities need to make sure their residents do not have or carry this disease
9. Personal information and consent for treatment forms. Many skilled care facilities will have a staff member assist you in filling out several forms that ask for your parent’s Social Security number, personal information, and signature.
10. Financial paperwork and insurance documentation. You will need to disclose financial information to ensure you can pay for the care. (Note: Before the admission process, you and your family should consult with an attorney to help make decisions concerning the management of income, assets, and property, especially if one parent will be admitted while the other parent remains living at home.)
11. Medical power of attorney paperwork that shows a family member has the power to make arrangements for a move into a nursing home or long-term care community.
12. Any advance directives your parent may have.
Who has been doing the hands on care for your cognitively impaired parent ?
Are family members opposed to your parent being placed ? If so why ?
This POA is who the parent chose to act in the best interest of the parent.
Your parent will not be home alone unsafe .
This sounds like a reasonable, responsible decision . POA must have their reasons for doing this .
The medical clearance the nursing home is asking for is because they need to know all of your parent's conditions to determine their careplan. They have to do that.
I assumeyour parent's POA/healthcare proxy is your sibling. If they've been trying to get your parent into a nursing home for a year chances are it's not for nothing. Tempers run high and there's a lot of fighting in families when a parent has to get placed and the other siblings disagree.
I think your best bet would be to reach out to the POA, on your own, without your other siblings and just ask to talk. No judgments, no arguments, no preaching or guilt-tripping (not that you would), and no accusations. Just to talk and find out what's going on because the person with the POA/healthcare proxy is making all the decisions here. You're not going to get anywhere on your own trying to get information.
Assume that the POA is struggling also because they probably are. No one wants to put someone they love away in a nursing home. Start with this when you reach out to the POA. Then listen to what they say.