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I have a male senior friend (87) who has chronic and severe UTI. He is also hemiplegic from a stroke. Recently, he became incoherent and agitated, so bad that I called 911 to take him to the ER. They determined that he was only severely dehydrated and was kept over-night for observation. Ten days later he passed-out, and again I called 911 to take him to the ER. This time they admitted him for UTI. I believe that they missed diagnosesed the first time, and claims should have handled as a hospital readmission.


Another previous time, I knew he an UTI, I took him to the ER and they treated him with an IV antibiotic. At 8pm at night they released him to go home! I thought that was a bad idea and pleaded with the Doctor three times to keep him for observation. The doctor said no because vitals were good. I gave up, took him home, and the next morning he awoke with a fever. I call 911 to take him back to the ER, and he was re-admitted for the UTI.

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Our health insurance want us out of the hospital as fast as possible to avoid getting other infections. Even with major surgery, what use to be a week or two stay in the hospital decades ago is now out-patient surgery. This happens whether you use Medicare, Medicaid, or are younger with regular health insurance.

Couple years ago I was at the ER for a UTI which was common after kidney stone surgery, which was outpatient. I was placed in "observation" for 3 days until the lab could determine what type of infection it was, apparently there are numerous ones... thus, to use the best antibiotics for that infection. Today, I probably would have been set home to wait out the results.
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I thought Medicare penalized hospitals for re-admissions. In these cases The hospital caused the readmissions.
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People don't need to be hospitalized for UTIs unless there are complications. As FF points out above, it's actually more dangerous for an elder to be in the hospital because of the germs that they are likely, with compromised immune systems, to pick up.

It does not sound to me as though the hospital CAUSED the re-admission. Your friend from under observation and re-hydrated. 10 days later he developed a UTI. Why do you think those two things are related?

If he has chronic UTIs, is he being seen by a urologist? Is there a care plan in place, and does HE understand it? Someone with chronic UTIs needs to be mindful of hydration, hygiene and might be a candidate for ongoing medication and certainly regular UA to check for infection.

Is all that in place?
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