Choosing a Nursing Home contd.

Check online at places like www.medicare.gov, http://www.aoa.gov(this is the Administration on Aging), the Eldercare locator at www.eldercare.gov, etc.

Call your long term care ombudsman, who is an advocate for nursing home residents.

The Yellow Pages.

Personal recommendations from friends, doctors, social workers, and others who have direct experiences with specific nursing homes.

3.  Once you've made your list, you need to ensure that the nursing home facilities offer the particular type of care your loved one needs (don't forget to keep in mind your loved one’s wishes). You may call the nursing home directly to ask this question. To save time, you may also want to ask them about their fee structure, if they are Medicare and/or Medicaid certified, if they have any beds available, and how long the waiting list is.

Note: don’t cross a home off your list just because they don’t have any openings. It can be a very good indication of how good the nursing home is, check out how long the waiting list is and make arrangements to care for your loved one at home for a little longer.

Research the facilities as much as possible and ask around to see if anyone has heard anything – good or bad – about those facilities still on your list. You can also call your state’s consumer affairs division, your long term care ombudsman and your state’s health department to check the facilities on your list. Further information on choosing a nursing/convalescent home.

Should you need to use Medicaid to help cover expenses (even if it's not an immediate concern) be sure to check the facility’s Medicaid policies and certifications. For example, if your loved one is paying out of pocket to pay for care, but you expect a few years down the road that you will need to switch to Medicaid, you don’t want to have to move your loved one again if the facility he’s currently at won’t accept Medicaid in the future.

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