Patrick.net launches sister site for nursing home information

The housing bubble blog Patrick.net recently launched a Web site oriented towards those families in need of information on nursing homes. From Patrick's intro:

My mother, Diane Killelea, was in a nursing home from just after my father died on 10 June 2008 until she herself died on 17 October 2008.

My brother and sisters and I had a hard time trying to quickly figure out the system, between Medicare, Medicaid, admissions policies, physical therapy, and hospice care. I wished there were some website where we could discuss these things with other relatives of patients in the same situation.

Sometimes we talked with other patients' relatives in the halls, or happened to get good advice from friends and acquaintances, but the corporate offices of the nursing homes and the various government agencies all have their own profit or funding agendas, so they were not of much use in getting clear and unbiased answers.

So I decided to make online chat boards, one for each nursing home in America, where the relatives of patients in that home can help each other decode the system and get those patients good care without bankrupting themselves

I think this is a great idea -- I went through a similar situation when my father suffered a very bad stroke in March of 2000. Overnight, I had to become an expert on types of nursing homes vs. assisted living facilities, physical & occupational therapies, Social Security, Medicare and Medi-Cal. The stress was terrible, but I was lucky enough to find the owner of a facility to help walk me through the process and provide advice. I also signed my father up through a Medicare-approved health care plan called SCAN:

SCAN Health Plan® is a "Medicare Advantage" HMO, serving the needs of nearly 105,000 people on Medicare in approved zip codes within seven Southern California counties, including Kern, Los Angeles, Orange, Riverside, San Bernardino, San Diego and Ventura. The goal of the organization is to continue to find innovative ways to enhance seniors' ability to manage their health and to continue to control where and how they live. Since its inception, SCAN has provided the care needed to keep more than 25,000 seniors out of nursing homes. Today, SCAN is thriving and is one of the fastest growing health plans in the markets it serves. Founded in 1977, SCAN is a not-for- profit organization with headquarters in Long Beach, California. We invite you to find out more about this unique health plan dedicated to caring for the health and well-being of people on Medicare throughout our communities.

Have advice for Patrick's new Web site? Email him at p@patrick.net