How to Plan Ahead for Surgery

If you’re having surgery, preoperative planning is an important part of your procedure. Proper planning can help lower your stress and optimize your outcome.

Here are some options you may want to discuss with your doctor before your procedure:

• Arrange for someone to drive you home after surgery.
• To allow yourself to rest and recover, you should find someone to help you with day-to-day activities and care for you for at least the first week you are home. Choose a person who is able to physically assist you. You may want to consider hiring help if needed.
• After surgery, you should be in an area where you won’t have to navigate long hallways or stairs. It is best if you have a bed, bathroom and kitchen on one level. If your home isn’t set up this way, you may want to consider temporarily staying somewhere else.

Skilled Nursing Facilities

If you are considering a skilled nursing facility, keep in mind that your stay must be prior authorized by Dean Health Plan (DHP) and meet DHP’s definition of skilled care. Skilled care includes medical services that are rendered for the purpose of providing restorative and recuperative care by registered or licensed practical nurses or physical, occupational or speech therapists.

The evaluation to determine if you meet the criteria for a skilled nursing facility is based on your overall medical condition prior to discharge and what skilled nursing you require. For example, you may need rehabilitation services that cannot be delivered in your home. Often, however, both skilled nursing and therapy services are better delivered in a home setting.

In the majority of cases, skilled care is needed for only a limited period of time. After that, most patients have improved enough to be cared for by relatives or friends.

Noncovered Care

Some kinds of postoperative care are not covered by DHP. These include:

• Respite care. This is care in a skilled nursing facility while your usual caregiver is unavailable. For example, your caregiver may go on vacation, need rest or work during the day.
• Custodial or domiciliary care. This is care that is given when the basic goal is to help you with daily activities, including but not limited to bathing, dressing, eating, taking medications and 24-hour supervision for potentially unsafe behavior.
• Assisted-living or community-based residential facilities

If you have questions about your coverage, call our Customer Service Department at 608-828-1301 or toll-free at 800-279-1301.

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