IV infusion needs

[george637]

My wife & I plan to become full time RVers after we retire the end of the year. My wife has rheumatoid arthritis and needs to have medicine administered IV every eight weeks. Right now she has this done in our local hospital’s outpatient infusion center. But we would prefer not have to travel back here every eight weeks for this 30 minute IV infusion. She will be on Medicare with a supplement plan when we retire. Does anyone know of nation wide infusion centers where this could be done as we are traveling? I would appreciate any suggestions from any full timers out there who have this type of medical treatment as they travel. Thanks.

George & Linda
Bartlett, IL
2016 Bighorn 3270rs

 

[cookie]

A quick Google search found this outfit you might want to check out. Option Care.


Peace
Dave

 

[wdk450]

I would suggest you contact your Medicare Supplement's advice nurse.

 

[Lou_and_Bette]

Just my 2c’s worth on this subject. While I was going through my treatment, I carried a Physician’s order for the lab work I needed frequenly and never had a problem. I do have Medicare and TriCare For Life so billing wasn’t an issue. After the intense treatment was done, all I needed was to have my imbedded port flushed every 8 weeks with a Heparin solution. This is a very innocuous procedure and the drug is readily available. However, there were serious issues when I went to medical treatment facilities. Even with a carefully written Physician’s order, no facility would do the flush without getting the order reordered by a local Physician. I ended up just having the port removed rather than go through the hassle of seeking medical care at distant facilities or traveling back to home base every 8 weeks. Hope you have better luck with your type treatment.

 

[wdk450]

Lou and All:
I know that medical professionals are licensed by each state, and I am pretty sure that out of state credentials (and most likely prescriptions) are not recognized without going through the local state's medical board. I think that VA and Military medical are exempt from this.

Something to think about when you travel.

 

[MTPockets]

My wife carried a permanent prescription from an Arizona Doctor, for blood work she used at clinics in WA, UT, NV over a two year period with no issues. It may depend on the service required.

 

[Lou_and_Bette]

Lou and All:
I know that medical professionals are licensed by each state, and I am pretty sure that out of state credentials (and most likely prescriptions) are not recognized without going through the local state's medical board. I think that VA and Military medical are exempt from this.

Something to think about when you travel.

Bill, Physician’s, including VA/Mil, now have a Federal number that ID’s them and allows their Rx’s in all states. They need state licensure to practice medicine in those states. As a military nurse, I, like the other military health professionals, are exempt from the state licensure regulations while working on the base. However, if I wanted to work off base, I needed that state’s license or a multi-state license that included that particular state.

- - - Updated - - -

My wife carried a permanent prescription from an Arizona Doctor, for blood work she used at clinics in WA, UT, NV over a two year period with no issues. It may depend on the service required.

Terry, that was my point exactly. I could get lab work done without any problem. However, to get a procedure done was a different animal altogether.

 

[george637]

A quick Google search found this outfit you might want to check out. Option Care.


Peace
Dave

I called Option Care today and they said they would be able to accommodate my treatment. I'll work with the Chicago center (where my rheumatologist is located) and they will get my medication order from my rheumatologist. I’ll call the Chicago center when I'm on the road and tell them where I will be when my next dose is due. I will have to make sure I’m near one of their 128 nationwide facilities. The Chicago office will transfer my order to that facility and work with that facility's pharmacist to set up my infusion. They said they accept Medicare and Medicare supplemental insurance. This sounds like a viable option. Thanks, Dave, for this find.

 

[wdk450]

It sounds like Dave found a service that could be extremely valuable to many RVers. I think this needs to be shared on the other big RV forums like IRV2, FMCA, and RV Village.

 

[george637]

I called Option Care today and they said they would be able to accommodate my treatment. I'll work with the Chicago center (where my rheumatologist is located) and they will get my medication order from my rheumatologist. I’ll call the Chicago center when I'm on the road and tell them where I will be when my next dose is due. I will have to make sure I’m near one of their 128 nationwide facilities. The Chicago office will transfer my order to that facility and work with that facility's pharmacist to set up my infusion. They said they accept Medicare and Medicare supplemental insurance. This sounds like a viable option. Thanks, Dave, for this find.

I have an update: I called another nationwide infusion company, Coram, just to check out another option. Coram told me that Medicare DOES NOT cover infusions that are given at ambulatory infusion centers--they only cover infusions given in an infusion center affiliated with a hospital, and the physician who orders the infusion has to be on staff at that hospital. This is completely different than what Option Care told me. If Coram is right, then I will have to travel back every 8 weeks for my infusion, as I'm not going to be looking for rheumatologists all over the USA to arrange this. I still have another year before I go on Medicare, and hopefully I'll have a solid treatment plan by then. I'll keep you posted. I can't imagine I'm the only person who wants to go fulltime that has this issue, so I'll share what information I discover along the way.

 

[kkamshop]

Many years ago, I worked for an Option Care pharmacy- ask if your infusion can be given at your location by a home care nurse. I can give no advise on what Medicare will cover - best to ask them.

 

[george637]

Many years ago, I worked for an Option Care pharmacy- ask if your infusion can be given at your location by a home care nurse. I can give no advise on what Medicare will cover - best to ask them.

Thanks for the tip. So much to figure out!

 

[george637]

I found out recently that Option Care has a contract with Medicare to administer IV infusions; the infusion is covered under Part B of Medicare, so Option Care will accept Medicare patients. Coram does not have a contract with Medicare, so they will not administer the IV infusion and will not accept Medicare patients.

 

[MalcolmPierce]

I advise you to contact local organizations that deal with issues and problems of the elderly. I am sure they will help you solve your problem, especially related to your wife's health. Unfortunately, people underestimate the work of medical workers. I know that many nurses are retraining to become caregivers. It is especially actual when the elderly suffer from some illness. On https://seniorsite.org/assisted-living/FL , I found options for living with elderly caregivers in very good conditions. Many people associate nursing homes with something horrible and deplorable, but there are very good homes with all the conditions for older. Probably, this information will be useful for you.

 

[Dahillbilly]

I advise you to contact local organizations that deal with issues and problems of the elderly. I am sure they will help you solve your problem, especially related to your wife's health. Unfortunately, people underestimate the work of medical workers. I know that many nurses are retraining to become caregivers. It is especially actual when the elderly suffer from some illness. On https://seniorsite.org/assisted-living/FL , I found options for living with elderly caregivers in very good conditions. Many people associate nursing homes with something horrible and deplorable, but there are very good homes with all the conditions for older. Probably, this information will be useful for you.

the post you replies to is from July 2019