Mom has Parkinsons and is not eating well. Shes very weak and needs max assistance to stand and transfer. I am thankful for all the services Hospice provides and I know Mom's condition will most likely not improve drastically, but want her to have the help so she be the best she can be. We had a great PT person working with her (paid by Medicare) but now that hospice is on board they are saying we cant use our therapist anymore and we have to use theirs. Is the only way we can use our PT person is if we private pay? Why won't hospice allow our PT agency to continue?
think palative care, not restorative.
So..I wonder too, since your Mom has now a life expectancy of under 6 months ... what is the point of PT for those months? It is hard on her, and long term improvement is not going to happen.
If PT will help with pain and constriction of hands, arms, feet...then PT could probably be ordered by Hospice. PT to gain strength would not be approved by Hospice.
But there would be nothing to prevent you from hiring a PT to come in and give PT if you were to pay for it out of pocket.
In the case you describe Hospice would not approve PT there is equipment that can be used to help a person transfer a Sit to Stand if the person has upper body strength enough to hold on to a handle for support. Or a Hoyer Lift if they have lost upper body strength.
The hospice service you chose told you that you must use the hospice contracted PT, not any outside the hospice organization that you might have formerly used. So it appears that if the hospice approves PT (they did not deny PT services,) and if you want Medicare to pay, you must use the PT through the hospice. Give it a try.
Your alternative would be to have hospice terminated and go back to the regular Medicare system. That system is geared towards active treatment with the goal of recovery.
Good luck to you.
Physical therapy is for restorative care for folks expected to leave the facility so they can function better when they get home.
Private pay will probably be you only option.
Eventually they will stop eating and drinking, which means you will have to either let them die of dehydration (can take over 2 weeks and it's not pleasant even under hospice), or get a PEG feeding tube in. You will need to revoke the hospice, put them back on regular Medicare, put the PEG tube in, then discharge them back on hospice. You can put your mom on rehab if in the hospital for 4 days then after discharge from rehab put them back on hospice. If you opt for feeding tube there is a ***LOT*** you have to know to properly care for it.
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