Health Care Emergency- Are you prepared?

I recently had a health care emergency with my dad that I thought I’d share as a learning experience.  As brief background, my 79 year-old dad has Parkinson’s disease and was recently hospitalized unexpectedly.  He’s at home now and almost back to normal, but for a few days it was touch and go.  In some ways, my family was prepared.  In other ways, we were less prepared than I thought. 

Advanced Health Care Directive/Health Care POA

We called 911 due to a sharp drop in my dad’s blood pressure and other symptoms of Sepsis.  Fortunately, my dad had previously signed an Advanced Health Care Directive (Advanced Directive) and Health Care Power of Attorney (POA).  Basically, an Advanced Directive lists your medical wishes under certain medical scenarios. A Health Care POA gives someone permission to make medical decisions on your own behalf in the event you’re not able to.  For a detailed explanation of what each of these documents are, please click here.

Just as important as having these documents, we also knew where they were.  I grabbed copies on my way out the door and followed the ambulance to the hospital.  My parents and I had discussed some end of life decisions in the wake of Covid -19. However, having my dad’s wishes in writing took away some of the stress. Luckily, we haven’t had to use the Advanced Directive yet, but we know it’s there when/if we need it.

Recommendation:  Adults, young and old, should have an Advanced Directive and Health Care POA.  These documents ensure medical providers know your wishes and who you trust to make medical decisions on your behalf.  Additionally, it will take a lot of pressure off your family members during what will undoubtedly be a difficult and stressful situation.

Medication list

As you might imagine, my dad is on several medications to manage his Parkinson’s disease.  He’s also on other medications to control blood pressure and supplements.   

Ideally, we would have had a list of all his medications printed out that I could grab and take with me to the hospital.  While we didn’t have a list of medications, all his medicine bottles were on his dresser.  I threw them all in a plastic bag and took them with me.   The hospital staff in the ER was glad to have them.  They were able to avoid giving any additional medications that might have a negative interaction with medications my dad was already taking.  Additionally, once the hospital admitted and stabilized, the nurses gave him his regular Parkinson’s meds.

Recommendation: Have a list of all medications along with any allergies in hard copy easily accessible to provide the hospital.

Financial Accounts

My dad always took care of the family finances.  My mom was a joint owner of the accounts and had a general idea of how much was in them and where they were.  However, she didn’t manage them or know how to access them .  With my dad in the hospital and mostly incapacitated, I needed to ensure bills were paid and to make sure there were no fraudulent charges.  I also wanted to make sure I understood my parents’ financial entire picture in the event we had unexpected medical expenditures or long-term health care decisions to make.

I knew where my parents had accounts and a general idea of what assets they had but I didn’t know account numbers or passwords or exactly what their balance sheet looked like. 

My dad had signed a General Power of Attorney naming my mom as his primary POA and me as an alternate.  I took the POA to his banks in order to get my name added on the accounts, but the bank wouldn’t accept them even with my mother there to add me to the account.  I think the bank was afraid I would take all the money out, head to the Bahamas and they’d get sued.  

Fortunately, I found statements around their house for all but one of the accounts. My dad had saved the password to the primary banking account on his computer so my mom and I could take a look.  Same for the credit card. There’s no immediate need to access other accounts so we have time to figure that one out.

Recommendation: Everyone should have a list of financial accounts and life insurance kept with important papers. While we are managing to get by, it would have been easier if my parents had a list of accounts and passwords. 

As for getting added to the account, I should have contacted the bank well before hand to make sure the POAs I had were sufficient and would accomplish what I thought they would.

Palliative Care/Hospice

Like many chronic illnesses, Parkinson’s is a complicated disease.  It requires several medications taken at regular intervals. Every medical decision has to take into account the way that other non-Parkinson’s medication will react with Parkinson’s medication and/or the disease itself.  This means when my dad needs a prescription from his internist the internist needs to consider how that medication will interact with Dad’s myriad Parkinson’s meds.  Same for his other doctors.

Palliative Care

Palliative care can help manage complicated medical conditions such as Parkinson’s or cancer.  The Palliative Care team helping my dad consists of two nurses and a social worker.  They come by the house to see how my Dad is doing, take his vitals and help coordinate his care.  We had just started palliative care before my dad went to the hospital.  In fact, it was the palliative care team that initially suspect sepsis and recommended immediate hospitalization.  

Hospice

Upon discharge, the hospital set ust up with Hospice Care, 100% covered by Medicare.  While hospice requires a terminal diagnosis, it doesn’t necessarily mean the patient is about to call it quits.  Like palliative care, hospice is a team of nurses, social workers, and health aides.  A doctor oversees the team. Together the team will manage my dad’s medical care including treating his Parkinson’s.  Hospice provided medical equipment such a hospital bed, Hoyer lift, and supplies.  A nurse will visit my dad up to twice a week to monitor his health.  An Aide will come by 3 times a week to make sure my dad remains clean and comfortable.

Recommendation: If you or a loved one has a complicated or chronic medical diagnosis, check with the doctor to see if a referral to Palliative care or hospice might be appropriate.

Conclusion

Experiencing a health care emergency won’t be pleasant or easy.  But being prepared can make things a little less stressful.  If you have other tips please leave them in the comment section below.  Thanks.

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Nothing on this page should be considered legal advice.