In Florida, senior citizens usually require rehabilitation services after a hospitalization. Rehabilitation comes in many different forms, such as physical therapy, speech therapy, psychotherapy, and occupational therapy.
REHAB CENTERS VERSUS NURSING HOMES
Frequently, aging seniors are recommended to enter a nursing rehabilitation center so that multiple modes of therapy can be administered. While it may come as a surprise to many, Florida’s nursing rehabilitation centers are usually licensed nursing homes. In fact, a lot of nursing homes in Florida hold themselves out as rehab centers.
For example, a nursing home located in Boynton Beach, Florida goes by the name “Boynton Beach Rehabilitation Center.” It has a website called “boyntonbeachrehab.com” and advertises itself as a rehab facility by showing weight machines and exercise equipment. However, this is a licensed nursing home. The significance of this is that this facility must still comply with both the State of Florida and Federal regulations when providing services to residents. The name “Rehabilitation Center” does not exempt them from complying with nursing home regulations.
At NextGen Injury Law, we represent individuals who have been harmed while residing at these types of nursing rehab centers. Injuries can occur at the rehab centers in the same method and manner as at traditional nursing home facilities, however, there are also unique cases that we have seen at these types of facilities. One type of claim that can occur is “Medicare fraud” by the facility.
SPOTTING MEDICARE FRAUD
As documented by the New York Times in 2015, nursing homes have been known to exploit the Medicare billing system by giving patients more therapy services than they need. Nursing Rehabilitation Centers that provide excessive amount of therapy services to your family members should be questioned as to whether they are really necessary or not.
As reported in the article, nursing homes have exploited the system “to optimize revenues” and are receiving payments for therapy when it is “unrelated to the condition or characteristics of patients.”
Therefore, if your family member is being pushed into unnecessary therapy services or being asked to complete excessive amounts of rehab services, it may be time to question whether that is the right facility for your family member.