I know a lot of frequent posters here are physicians. Can anyone give me guidance on how to help a friend who is receiving terrible post-operative care? Can they transfer to a different hospital? And if so…how??
Thank you.
Not a physician, but, have heard of some scenarios. Sorry for the trouble! Hope your friend gets well soon!
First, there may be a hospital ombudsman to hear concerns about quality of care.
Second, there’d have to be a second hospital willing to take a transfer. Some don’t have bed space.
Third, a transfer could be prohibitively expensive if one’s insurance does not cover it.
So difficult because in some states, a patient is cared for by a hospital doctor and one’s personal doctor may not be able to assist.
One’s state regulator of hospitals may have help.
This patient’s rights group may have tips.
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Thank you so much!
I’d start by contacting the insurance company. The decision is going to come down to that.
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Thank you. I think he plans to do that tomorrow.
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Also see tips fromHHS on its Medicare site
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Is it the surgeon/surgical team that the patient is unhappy with or the ancillary staff? And to further complicate things it would probably also matter whether the physician is employed by the hospital or has attending privileges.
If the patient is still under a surgeon’s care, make sure they are on staff at the receiving hospital. I believe the receiving hospital has to be willing to accept the patient and may not be willing/able to if the patient is an “orphan”.
If it is the nursing care, or other hospital-provided care, then make sure the physician is aware of the situation as they may be able to intervene.
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What are the patients complaints? Hard to give guidance without that.
Have they discussed their concerns with hospital administration and the surgeon? Hopefully, this will address the issues and a transfer will not be needed.
It will be difficult to find an accepting hospital unless the surgeon is on the staff as another physician might not want to assume care for a patient whose surgery they did not perform. If the physician has privileges at another hospital, the surgeon could help connect the patient with the accepting facility.
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Thank you everyone for the insight and links. I think my friend’s situation is under control right now but this is great information to have for the future, as a situation like this could happen to any of us at any time, I would imagine.
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