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I never knew! Burnt answered one of our OPs today that if she is completely overwhelmed with the care of hubby and cannot go on she can take him to the ER not as an "ER DUMP" which honestly no longer works well, but as a social admit.



I looked it up and it does exist and does have a code.
An overwhelmed caregiver can take the one cared for to the ER and ask for a Social Admit. There's a code for it. The Social Workers will then swing in and try to convince that they can help get aid and get the person back home, but apparently if this is stuck to the person can and will be admitted.



I honestly had no idea. I didn't work ER but occ. floated there and never witnessed it the few times I was there. I did see one gentleman get admitted when his wife had a CVA at home and he had no one to care for him. And he must have then been coded as a Social Admit until placement was found.



What great information. I wonder why any of us are considering trying the ER dump when this exists. I simply had no idea, but googling it proves Burnt is absolutely correct on this one.
For me, great new information. I learn a ton of stuff here all the time.

Alva, social admit is what the hospital can do when it is not appropriate for someone to be released to an unsafe environment. The hospital did this with my father. This usually takes place after someone is sent to the emergency room, and there is no one who is able or willing to take him or her back home, and this person’s life would be in danger if he or she were released. ER dump is an unkind term when in reality it is someone who simply cannot handle it anymore, is at the end of their rope, and is crying out for help.
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But guys, if this existed (and it DOES) why have we been doing ER dumps. Or IS it basically the ER DUMP.
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To me it sounds like they are one in the same, though "social admit" sounds a whole lot better than "ER dump" I guess.
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I know this exists in Canada.
Almost a year ago my husband was in hospital and I was told about it.
In May this year I was looking for respite stay for him and nobody could find one room in city with over 1.2 million people! Not enough facilities.
Three agencies involved and SW suggested just that she would call hospital and they would arrange for him to stay there.
Luckily found good AL for his respite stay.
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Again, Mr Bill, If this process worked so smoothly everyone would be doing it.

First, the sw is paid to ask the hard questions and triage accordingly. And the fact is that “I’m not financially able to provide the care that he needs” will not be seen as emergent enough to trigger a social admit. And given that she has a minor living there, any suicidal or catatonic theatrics might just trigger a cps visit.
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Alva, unfortunately you have to get LO into the hospital first somehow. That is why I think transport by ambulance works best.

This should not be the way to get care, but unfortunately there’s no other good option many times that works, especially if you don’t have resources, For the resource limited, what they want you to do is apply for LTC Medicaid, get approved, and then call on different nursing homes to see if they have an open bed and will admit your LO. This is simply too much of an arduous and time consuming task when you need help now. So for those people what are their options?
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It’s not a smooth process Peggy, I never said it was. Everybody doesn’t do it because there are other options if you have the money. Private pay for memory care. Hire care givers for home. Those are much preferred ways to deal with this. But some people don’t have those options available to them. For those people with out resources and unable to handle caregiving anymore, and have no help from others, the only options become either trying to get help from a state social worker, or a SW at the hospital.
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I remember BarbBrooklyn suggesting "social admit" on several posts in the last year.

Also, if a social admit happens when there's no medical necessity, does this mean that Medicare doesn't cover anything related to it?
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Navigating Social Admissions in Healthcare (evidence.care)

Geaton, I attached a Iink above regarding Medicare and social Admits. Generally it is tough for the hospital to get reimbursed from Medicare. The bill would then fall on the patient, but most who are in that position don't have the resources anyway.
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So do I. The first I'd heard of an "ER dump" or "social admit" was on this site when I first joined about a year ago. I sincerely hope that I never need to utilize the latter, but I'm glad to know it exists.

It shouldn't be so hard to get care that is obviously needed but, unless one is wealthy, the American healthcare system clearly is not the "world's finest" anymore. When it takes me a month or more to get an appointment with my PCP, something is not working right. People shouldn't have to go to the ER and wait 8+ hours to be seen for a NON-emergent condition that could have been handled in their PCP's office.
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Very intersting. I thought 'social admit' was an absolute last resort thing.

For instance, if a caregiver has a medical emergency, needs EMS & gets transport to ER - plus - someone they care for would be left unsafe home alone, then that person can be brought along too. Until other arrangements can be made.

I imagine as soon as they arrive in ER a SW gets busy on the phone & starts calling every relative they can find "Come get Gramma/Gramps now." If no-one found, they live too far, just can't etc then SW gets busy on paperwork & locating an emergency bed in a nursing home type of facility.
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