when should you call kepro?

• If you are not ready to be discharged from the hospital.
• If your Medicare skilled services are ending too soon. Examples of skilled services include things like physical therapy and nursing services.
• If you have a concern about the quality of care you received.
• If you have a concern about your medical care that needs to be taken care of right away.

To speak with a representative about Kepro's services, click on the link below for the phone number for your state.

These services are free for people who have Medicare. 

Kepro Telephone Numbers

april is national minority health month

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention can help you to learn what you, your family, and community can do to get active and stay healthy.

Visit our  National Minority Health Month web page to learn more.

news about medicare

Read about COVID-19 tests and Medicare: Frequently Asked Questions document (PDF).

Visit www.covidtests.gov for more information about at-home tests.

in this issue:

• immediate advocacy

  How Immediate Advocacy services can help when a discharge appeal is denied

• learn about your medicare rights

  Kepro's free services for people who have Medicare

• medicare news

  Read about COVID-19 tests and Medicare

• healthy living

  April is National Minority Health Month

immediate advocacy services for people who have medicare

If you have Medicare and have a concern about the health care (or related medical services) you had, you can do something about it. You can call Kepro and ask about Immediate Advocacy services. If you can’t call, someone else, such as a friend or family member, can call for you.

The Immediate Advocacy process can resolve issues quickly.

Read a story that shows how Immediate Advocacy can help when a discharge appeal is denied.

sometimes the families of medicare patients need help to get ready for a discharge from a skilled nursing facility. 

A Medicare patient’s daughter had concerns about her mother’s discharge from a skilled nursing facility.

Her mom was in the hospital for hip surgery. She was now at a skilled nursing facility to recover from the surgery before going back to her own home. She had physical therapy to help learn to walk with her new hip. Now, the skilled nursing facility said her mom was ready to be discharged. Her mom was ready to go back to her home.

But, the daughter felt that her mom wasn’t ready to go home. She called Kepro to file an appeal to stop the discharge. At the end of the appeal process, Kepro called the daughter with the results. Based on what was written in the medical records, Kepro’s doctor agreed with the facility that her mom was ready to be discharged.

Of course, the daughter was upset. The nurse at Kepro took the time to speak with the daughter to learn more about what was happening. The daughter felt she did not have time to get the medical equipment in place before her mother returned to her home. She needed a hospital bed delivered and set up and felt that no one was assisting her.

Kepro staff called the skilled nursing facility and left a message about the daughter’s concerns. Kepro received a message back from the facility that the hospital bed would be delivered to her mom’s home and set up before she was discharged. Kepro then contacted the patient’s daughter who said that the hospital bed was set up for delivery.

The daughter was extremely appreciative of the call and the help that Kepro provided.

If you are on Medicare and are not happy with the care you received or if you need help working through an issue that needs to be taken care of right away, please call Kepro and ask about Immediate Advocacy.

• Read more about Immediate Advocacy.
• Watch a video about Immediate Advocacy.
• Call Kepro. Get the phone number for your state.

your medicare rights

Kepro is the Beneficiary and Family Centered Care Quality Improvement Organization (also called a BFCC-QIO) for the 29 states listed on our helpline page.

Serving as a BFCC-QIO, Kepro has free services for people who have Medicare. We are here to help you if you have these types of questions:

• Are you not ready to be discharged from the hospital?
• Are your Medicare skilled services ending too soon? Skilled services include things like wound care, intravenous (or IV) therapy, or getting physical therapy.
• Are you unhappy or concerned about the quality of medical care you received?
• Do you have a concern about your medical care that needs to be taken care of right away?

If you have any of these questions, you can call Kepro. Or, learn more by visiting our overview page or watching a video.

Publication No. R146810-240-4/2022. This material was prepared by Kepro, a Medicare Quality Improvement Organization under contract with the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS), an agency of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. The contents presented do not necessarily reflect CMS policy.