My aunt is in a nursing home and was approved for Medicaid nursing level of care after a stroke in Sepember, but she is quite ambulatory with a walker, of reasonably sound mind, and in fact we have started taking her home for daylong visits every weekend and she has been doing quite well. She does however have aphasia which waxes and wanes as she gets tired. She wants very much to see her own doctor - ie, she wants to be able to be taken out of the facility to visit her doctor. I have explained that she is to see the facility's doctor and that being on Medicaid means that things have changed.
That said, I am very dissatisfied with my level of knowledge about her condition and prognosis. It's so hard to get hold of the medical staff and you're forced to go through a social worker who just reads off stuff from a file. My aunt has aphasia and cannot convey to me what the medical staff tell her. I wish I could take her to an outside doctor and get a real report about how she is doing from someone who cares. I wish I could be present.
Is she allowed to be taken out to see her own doctor for an exam or assessment? Or is she cut off from this completely because she is on Medicaid at the SNF?
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Have you called her/him and asked for an appointment?
https://www.health.ny.gov/facilities/nursing/rights/clinical_care_and_treatment.htm
One of the fundamental rights of a NH patient in NYS is the right to see a physician of your choosing who accepts your insurance.
If anyone tells you otherwise, you call the Ombudsman for the facility.
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