Covid Positive Symptom Negative

One of our clients went to the emergency department for weakness. She is a dialysis patient, and end-stage liver disease. They tested her for Covid and she came back positive. She had no symptoms. Not sure why they tested her. I believe it was a false positive. The next ten days were nothing but a nightmare dealing with this hospital ED.

Their solution was to send her to rehab, even though she didn't need rehab. The ONLY rehab that would accept her was one that takes in Covid Positive patients. In analyzing this particular rehab it had one star with medicare and was sanctioned for abuse last year. Of course, my suggestion to her children was not to agree to send her. Then the games began.

I continued to get multiple phone calls from the hospital staff trying to convince me to tell the kids she had to go. I refused. She was never symptomatic. They then pulled the "lawyer" card getting their legal staff to threaten the children with going to court to force her to go. In addition, they would have to pay $2000 a trip (six trips a week) for transportation to another dialysis unit, you guessed it, that accepts Covid Positive patients. I continued to back the decision of the children to not send her. On the 11th hour and after 12 days of quarantine, again without symptoms, they discharged her to home with care. After their infectious disease team stated since she had no symptoms and was quarantined she would be considered negative.

It's terrifying to me that the system doesn't care, but not surprising, unfortunately. The only conversations they had with the family and I were around money. The last three days charging the family $3000 a day for her to be in the ED. After threatening phone calls with the case manager she ended by saying she would never work with me again with a covid positive patient. Well, guess what, if we get one that unfortunately enters your ED you will have to whether you like it or not.

Why all the anger? Where is the care? I was told you couldn't believe the medicare website as they were not updated, well the site was updated enough to show much dismay in reports about this home. Then I was told if the state agreed the place could be used it was okay. NO it is not okay to send someone who is a high risk for Covid and not symptomatic into a bed of virus so she did actually become symptomatic or actually have Covid and die. Of course, if it was a 5-star medicare facility they would have been singing praises as to reasons she should go.

My job is to protect our clients. What exactly is the job of the healthcare system? Is it to protect their patients or protect their pocketbook.

I cringe at the thought of how many people agreed to send their loved ones off to a facility like this one and die. Apparently, that is okay as long as they don't linger in the ED.

I get that the emergency department is no place to quarantine, I get that they are busy but I don't get why families can't choose where they place their loved ones. Apparently, if you disagree with their plan they go up the ladder to get the legal department involved to force them. None of this is okay with me. None of what is going on in our world is normal. We have to find a better way to manage patients who are showing up with positive tests and negative symptoms. There has got to be a better way than the way they treated not only her but her family.