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Welcome to Healthcare Redefined: Advocating for Aging Adults and Their Families, where we empower families to navigate the complexities of aging and healthcare. Presented by Your Nurse Advocate Consulting, we share real stories, expert advice, and practical tools to help you and your loved ones confidently navigate aging with dignity.
We explore topics like creating collaborative care plans, demystifying Medicare, handling healthcare crises, and preparing for the future. Join us as we transform uncertainty into understanding.
Linda Kritikos: [00:00:00] Before we dive in, have you ever been in the hospital and thought, I'm ready to go home, even if they say you're not ready. Or maybe the opposite, have you felt like you were being pushed out before you felt safe leaving? In today's episode, we're closing out our discharge series with a topic that can change everything about what happens next. And that's either discharging too soon, and then the term 'leaving against medical advice'. We're going to walk you through what it means, what the risks are to watch for, and what options you have if discharge doesn't feel right. So stick around. Welcome to Healthcare Redefined, advocating for aging adults and their families. The podcast that we're going to tackle involves real life challenges of caregiving, aging, and navigating the health care system. I'm Linda Kritikos.
Pam Dunwald: [00:00:48] Hi, and I'm Pam Dunwald. With over 80 years of combined experience as registered nurses and board certified patient advocates, we're here to help you feel confident, informed, and supported every step of the way. You know, if you've been with us through season one, thank you. This season was focused heavily on what families face during a health crisis. Being a new family caregiver, what about what do you do after hospital stays, transitions, discharging? And again, how do you navigate that role of being a new family caregiver?
Linda Kritikos: [00:01:21] And as we wrapped up season one, we realized we needed to close the loop on a couple of discharge issues that come up all the time because discharge is not just going home. It's a type of transition of care. And when that transition is rushed or unclear, families can end up right back in the emergency room.
Pam Dunwald: [00:01:42] So today, as our season one wraps up on discharge. And so this is the first episode of our second season. We're going to wrap up discharge. And then we're going to be moving into the topic for season two with a brand new theme, getting your affairs in order.
Linda Kritikos: [00:01:58] In season two, we're going to cover topics like estate planning, financial planning, Medicare coverage, senior housing, relocation, and real life care planning, topics like aging in place and dementia care.
Pam Dunwald: [00:02:12] Our goal is to help you plan ahead. So you're making thoughtful decisions, not crisis decisions. This is episode 201, discharging too soon, leaving against medical advice. And we're focusing on three discharge situations that we see pretty consistently.
Linda Kritikos: [00:02:32] So first, discharge against medical advice, often called AMA. What it means, why it happens and what families should consider before signing anything.
Pam Dunwald: [00:02:42] And the second thing we want to talk about is the potential for medication errors after discharge, because medication changes are one of the biggest reasons people end up back in the hospital.
Linda Kritikos: [00:02:53] Third, what happens when it's not working at home after discharge. Families ask us this all the time. Can you go to a nursing home once you've been discharged home from the hospital? Are there any criterias that you need to meet in order to do this? So we're going to talk through what to ask and what options may exist for you. Pam, let's start by naming the two scenarios we hear most.
Pam Dunwald: [00:03:15] Yes, because they feel different, but both can lead to unsafe outcomes. So scenario one is: I want to leave before they say I'm ready. Maybe you're exhausted. Maybe you're worried about cost. Maybe you feel you need to get back to work. You need to get back to your family. You're not sleeping well in the hospital, or you feel like you're just not getting answers.
Linda Kritikos: [00:03:35] And scenario two is, I feel like they're asking me to leave too soon. Families tell us they're talking discharge, but my loved one can't walk safely. They're confused, the pain isn't controlled, or we don't have any support lined up. How can we do this?
Pam Dunwald: [00:03:50] You know, in both situations, the key issue is the same. Is there a safe plan for what happens next?
Linda Kritikos: [00:03:56] So let's define AMA in plain language. What does it mean?
Pam Dunwald: [00:04:01] AMA or against medical advice usually means you're choosing to leave the hospital even though the medical team recommends you stay. It can also come up when a patient refuses the recommended discharge plan.
Linda Kritikos: [00:04:14] Yeah. And families a lot of times will worry because if they leave AMA, is the insurance going to pay for the care that I've already received?
Pam Dunwald: [00:04:22] That's a really common fear. We can speak to every insurance plan, but we can't speak to every insurance plan because they manage things differently. But what we can say is, don't let fear or pressure be the only driver. What matters most is understanding the medical risks, the plan, and what support is in place. My experience in the hospital is if someone leaves against medical advice, oftentimes the insurance will pay for your hospital stay. But where it gets really tricky, as I've seen in nursing homes where they get pretty sticky about that against medical discharge and they may not pay for your stay in the nursing home. And my mom was really at risk for that. We were able to get the discharge, but the reason why the insurance companies really get sticky with nursing homes is they've noticed more often than not, when someone leaves sooner than what is recommended, they end up back in the hospital.
Linda Kritikos: [00:05:23] Yeah. So that's a key issue. So if someone is considering leaving AMA, what are the practical steps they can take before walking out?
Pam Dunwald: [00:05:31] Well, here are some options families often have when they feel like they're discharging too soon. Whether you want to leave or whether you feel you're being asked to leave too soon. So number one, ask for a clear explanation of the medical reason to stay. What is the team watching for your oxygen levels, infection markers, mobility. What is your lab work? How are you walking? How are you moving around? Is your pain controlled? Do you still have some confusion or are you dehydrated? You know what has to happen for discharge to be safe? So you want to get the criteria in simple terms. There's always a second opinion. You can always ask for an appeal and the social worker or the utilization review nurse or the case manager at the hospital, they can explain to you what the plan is if you want to appeal the discharge, and a lot of this time is can start with a care conference, ask to rally the team, bring in the therapists, the doctor, the nurses, the aides, the social, everybody and, and let's have a conversation and so that everybody's on the same page. And clarify the discharge plan in writing, you know, what? And this, you know, we talked about this in the last episode when we talked about ‘can we go home yet?’ And one of the things is when someone's going to be discharged, they're in a hurry. They want to get out of there, they're really not listening to the discharge instructions. Sometimes a family member or come sometimes they just meet them at the front door. So, you really need someone, another family member or friend to be there present for the discharge instructions. So make sure you've got everything in writing. You understand it. What to watch for. What are your follow up appointments? What's the therapy plan? Do I need equipment, home health or who do I call with questions? And if you still choose to leave, ask for the safest possible discharge. Your medication list, any new prescriptions, a follow up plan and really, clear return when, if this happens, I need to come back in.
Linda Kritikos: [00:07:36] You know, if you know, those comments that you're making, Pam, are really important. But I mean, is there, is there something that, you know, because it's a lot for families when they're overwhelmed, is there something that families, some type of an acronym or something that they can look to, to remember to ask certain questions when they're being discharged because it's really a lot for people when they're being asked to leave because as you know it, they're going in sicker and coming out quicker.
Pam Dunwald: [00:08:07] And that's a good point, Linda. And what I want to do is make sure you know that everyone checks the show notes, because we do have a guide on transitions and care and whether you're going from home to hospital to home, home to hospital or nursing home or to assisted living, we have those scenarios spelled out and what you want to make sure that you have in place going through each one of those transitions. So we will have that available for you in the show notes.
Linda Kritikos: [00:08:32] Yes. And we always want families to remember that you can advocate without being confrontational. So they can ask questions of the discharge planner, of the social workers, of the clinicians caring for their loved one, and you can say, help me understand this, or I'm seeking to understand why this is happening or why we're having to leave, and other things you can say is I want to make sure that we're safe when we get home. So how can we make that happen?
Pam Dunwald: [00:08:59] You know, and, and that's, you know, this is the most critical time in healthcare for anyone, especially aging adults is when you're going from one level of care to another. I mean, you are at risk for so many things falling through the cracks as you're transferring your care from one facility or one place to another. And so the first thing we want to talk about is the potential for medication errors. And this is where 70% of the medication errors that occur in healthcare occur during this time of transition. So it's a huge issue.
Linda Kritikos: [00:09:42] Yeah, it really is. I mean, discharge often comes with a lot of medication changes, new meds, stopped meds, new dosage changes or timing changes. And it's very, very important to make sure that you get those correct. And a lot of times, you know, you're thinking about all the paperwork that they're giving you when you're discharged and they're going through it very quickly. So it's very hard sometimes to get a grasp on what exactly is needed when and medication, the correct timing of taking medications and why you're taking them is so important.
Linda Kritikos: [00:10:17] You know, and Linda, that's a really good point because, you know, the risk goes up when families, you know, think about it, you're tired, you feel rushed, you're you're managing multiple doctors, you're counting on the hospital sending, if you're going from the hospital to the nursing home, you're counting on that hospital to send the orders over to the nursing home, send the medication list. If something gets missed or left off, you're already behind the eight ball.
Linda Kritikos: [00:10:42] Yeah. And it's even more troublesome if you live alone and in your elderly, and your support system isn't there for you because they live far away and you're given all of these things to do and to make appointments for and to take medications for or to pick up medications. And you're already feeling tired and deconditioned from being in the hospital. So, I mean, are there things that our listeners should do to reduce these medication errors?
Pam Dunwald: [00:11:11] There are a few practical steps. A couple of them are, ask for a medication reconciliation. What does that mean? Before leaving the hospital, review what they're talking about before. So what were you taking before you went to the hospital? What has changed and why? And then when you're leaving, what is your new normal? What does your new medication list look like? And make sure you understand why things were stopped and why maybe a dose was changed. And one thing too, it's very common when you go into the hospital for them not to put on any supplements, vitamins, anything like that on your list. So when you're leaving and you're going to a nursing home or going home, those things need to be put back on. And if not, you need to know why you don't want me to take this? So always compare your medication list from before you went in, and then when you're leaving, you know the hospital so that you know what current medication list that you have, and ask for this list in plain language. A lot of the lists now will have the brand name and then the generic name. So make sure that you don't have two medications. That's really the same thing on your list.
Pam Dunwald: [00:12:26] One is the brand name and one is the generic name. So make sure that there's no mistakes there and make sure you know when to stop your medications. If you're going home from the hospital and you're on antibiotics and they say, "oh, you're going to be on for 14 days total", well, how many days did you get it in the hospital? So how many days are left when you go home? Make sure that's clear when you leave. And then, ask about side effects, red flags, especially if it's a new medicine. What symptoms if we have should we call the doctor? What symptoms should we have? That means we need to go to the emergency room. So and then confirm you know which doctor is managing what. So is my primary care doctor, which is the one that should be managing all these things, is there something I need to get from cardiology or from pulmonology? There's a lot of things, a lot of balls in the air. And this is one of the biggest reasons why Linda and I get involved in cases, because this is so much that we can help sort all this out and help you stay on top of all this.
Linda Kritikos: [00:13:31] This is quite, it is quite a big elephant that we have to take small bites at one time to help manage this. One of the things that you brought up, I wanted to just add to it is that it's about these supplements. A lot of individuals feel that it's a supplement, so it's like food and they don't even think to put it on their medication list. Things such as protein supplements or certain types of essential oils or certain types of herbals that they are taking or even cannabis. I mean, a lot of times, "well, I'm not going to put that on my med list. They don't need to know that." Well, you know, in states where it's legal, they do need to know that because that should be part of your medication list if you're taking it regularly, because it could have issues with other medications you're taking. So everything you're taking that you're putting in as a supplement, a vitamin or that's a prescribed medication needs to be on your med list and then needs to be reviewed to make sure that it is still accurate every time you go into the doctor. And the thing is, if you're the caregiver, that's the other important thing.
Linda Kritikos: [00:14:41] It's okay to slow the process down. So when you're getting ready to leave and you're not comfortable with the things that they're telling you about the medication, say, I need to understand these things before we leave so that there are no mistakes and that everybody is on the same page about these medications. Because I don't understand all of these medications, especially when it's not just 1 or 2 meds. There could be anywhere between 13 and 30 meds on that med list. So now let's talk about the situation families really, really dread. You get home and go in and out within hours or days you realize, oh my gosh, this isn't working. I thought I could handle this, but I can't. It's just not working. There's too much going on and I just don't have the skill set or the ability emotionally or physically to do this.
Pam Dunwald: [00:15:39] You know, a lot of people, you know, they don't want to go into a nursing home. They want to go home. And, you know, the nursing home is just one step further from them getting what they want and that's to go home. And so, you know, maybe the person can't transfer safely. Maybe they can't manage the stairs. Maybe they've had a fall since they've been home from the hospital. Maybe they're more confused or maybe they don't have enough caregiver support.
Linda Kritikos: [00:16:05] So can they go to a nursing home now that they've already been discharged home?
Pam Dunwald: [00:16:12] Well, the answer is sometimes, but it depends on the situation, the payer source, and whether the person meets criteria. Normally, with Medicare, if you've been in the hospital and you've been discharged within 30 days, you could get into a nursing home if it's within that time frame. So it's really important to make sure that it's okay. A lot of the social workers at the hospital, when you go home, look at your folder. You get that folder with all the stuff from the hospital. Make sure you hang on to that because inside that I'll bet you are resources, including a social worker, a social worker, phone number, because those are the people that you would reach out to if things aren't working well when you go home. You can certainly, certainly reach out to Linda and myself as advocates, but they're the one that are familiar, most familiar with your discharge, with who the payer source is, the insurance Medicare, and can best advise you on that. That's your first person that I would tell you to reach out to. I would call the doctor right away and let them know what's going on so that they have a heads up that someone may be calling them for orders to be able to admit you to a nursing home.
Pam Dunwald: [00:17:25] Maybe, maybe home health services would be appropriate. Maybe there's other services that either the doctor or the social worker or someone like Linda or myself could help you get services in the home that would make it, you know, safer or make the transition better. We have to look at those safety concerns, falls, confusion, breathing issues. If it's an emergency, you know, please take them there. Call 911. Do what you need to do. Don't call anyone else. Get them help right away. But you know, if a facility is needed, make sure you ask the social worker, you know, what criteria must be met, what documentation is required so that we can help you, you can get into the most appropriate facility. And maybe sometimes it's not a nursing home. And Linda, maybe you can just talk a little bit. What if they don't go into a nursing home? The process might look a little different with going to assisted living. So Linda, you want to just talk on that a little bit?
Linda Kritikos: [00:18:20] Yeah. And the process for assisted living is a little different, but in a lot of ways it's the same. First of all, they have to meet criteria for the assisted living because each assisted living sometimes has different licensure. Some assisted living will take Hoyers and sit-to-stands, which are assistive devices to help someone transfer appropriately. Some will not. Some will say that we can only take people who walk on their own or use a walker. Some will say that we can take people that you know that if they need total assist, we can take them. So it's important to know, and that social worker at the hospital can help define some of these things based on the care that she is seeing in the chart for your loved one of what their needs are going to be post-discharge because assisted living are not all the same. And do they need memory care? That's going to be a different thing, but any and all of them will send someone out to evaluate that individual, to make sure that they meet the criteria and that they can provide safe care for them in their facility. The other thing is there's a financial component to an assisted living that is not covered under insurance. If they need intensive rehab, assisted living is not going to be the place for them. If they need some help learning or strengthening where they need some help after discharge, just to know to be safe in their own apartment or to transfer an assisted living could help with that on a temporary basis. But again, the finances will determine also if they can even move into a facility such as that along with meeting the eligibility criteria.
Linda Kritikos: [00:20:05] But the initial first step is someone will need to be contacted, and usually the social worker will contact the assisted living and then she should suggest to you to go and tour these facilities. They'll give you a list of 3 or 4 of them. You should tour them, and I tell you, you should tour them during meal time because that's the best way to identify staffing patterns, meal presentation, how many people need help with eating, those types of things so you can kind of see how it all works, and it's usually best during meal time. If for some reason you decide that that is the route that you're going to go, then the social worker will have some contact the facility that you've chosen, and they'll have someone come out and assess your loved one to make sure that they meet criteria, and then they will explain to you all the logistics around it financially and what they can, what services are covered, and how many hours of care are allotted in that type of facility. So it's a little different from a skilled facility. The care is at a lower level than at a skilled nursing facility, and a lot of times in the assisted living facility, they'll have and provide oversight, but a lot of times it's not the end that is providing direct care, unless it's something like a wound, and they usually will bring in home health or hospice as needed. So a little different skill set, little different skill level. Different types of criteria to get in, licensure depends on the type of patients that they bring in and also finances.
Pam Dunwald: [00:21:39] And you know, before we wrap up, let's summarize the options. And Linda, I have a question so when you're talking about insurance and, and a lot of times private pay for assisted living is now long term care insurance, will they sometimes cover assisted living?
Linda Kritikos: [00:21:57] They can, but they have to have certain long term care insurances, you have to wait so many days or pay out so many days before it kicks in. So it depends on your policy, whether how much it will cover and what it will cover, so it can cover it depending on what the diagnosis is and the types of care that you need.
Pam Dunwald: [00:22:15] If they have questions, it's best to just reach out to their insurance company and see what their options are. Okay. Let's begin the recap. And one thing I wanted to say too, while we were talking about finances and Linda, correct me if I'm wrong or jump in. I know things change, but if going into a nursing home, if you're going in for rehab, that's normally Medicare will cover the entire cost for 20 days. And then day 21, to day 100, you have what, possibly like a 20% co-pay for that stay as long as you're continuing to make progress and you're in a rehab bed. Now, if someone is at home and even though they've been in a hospital for 30 days, but they're just going there for custodial care, that could again, be private pay. Correct?
Linda Kritikos: [00:23:06] Correct. Correct.
Pam Dunwald: [00:23:09] So, I mean, you really do need to speak with someone so that they can help you choose and make sure that you're selecting the best option for you. So, you know, if discharge feels too soon, you can ask for a medical criteria for staying versus leaving. You can appeal. And, Linda, I'm going to ask, before I move on, I'm going to ask you to speak a little bit about what would be if someone's in the hospital and they feel that they're leaving too soon, what would the role of the ombudsman be in this particular-
Linda Kritikos: [00:23:43] Well, first off, if the clinician gets told or the clinician comes in and tells the individual that we're going to be discharging you tomorrow, you no longer meet criteria to be inpatient. So we're going to send you home. And the patient says, well, wait a minute, I don't feel safe to be. I mean, nobody's really worked with me. Therapy hasn't worked with me. I can't navigate stairs. I can't, I haven't even figured out how to get in and out of a car. How are you sending me home? So they will fill out, they will hand them a form. And the form says that they're being discharged, that Medicare will no longer pay for their care, but they have the right to appeal. But they have to fill this out within so many hours, within so many days in order to get that appeal. And then if that appeal is approved, they have to stay there until the appeal is finalized or until Medicare makes a decision on that. Now the Ombudsman can come in if patients themselves or family members can contact the Ombudsman, and the Ombudsman's role is to come in and to actually interview the patient, interview any clinicians or doctors once they get permission. And to look at the situation, is this an appropriate, would this be a safe and appropriate discharge? And if not, what has been done to help this individual go home safely? So the Ombudsman just kind of acts as a mediator, in a sense, to help them put things together and kind of control the situation so it doesn't get out of hand and the patient doesn't go home in an unsafe environment and respects the patient's rights as a patient in the hospital and their rights as they go home as an individual who's going to need some post acute care.
Linda Kritikos: [00:25:42] Normally that form what what I have seen recently is when those appeals are completed and they're sent in, Medicare has very quickly said that, we're reviewing this appeal, discharge cannot happen at this point, and they're not discharged until it's finalized. So a lot of times what's happening now is that Medicare is kind of saying, all right, let's step back on this and let's take a look at this to make sure that this is appropriate for this person to go home. And what kinds of things do we need to put in place for that to happen? So there have been recently more of these appeals that have been approved, then denials from Medicare in regards to these hospitalizations, more so with hospitalizations than someone having to leave like an assisted living or a rehab facility, more so from the hospital.
Pam Dunwald: [00:26:39] And I just want our listeners to know, too, that, you know, we, you know, and working in hospitals for so many years, there are people that just don't want to leave. They're getting really great care. But, you know, they're medically, they're stable. They're not doing anything new for them anymore. They're at that status quo, but they like to be there because they like the amount of care that they're getting. So in that situation, you may not feel that you're ready to go home. But on the hospital side, they're not doing anything acutely for you. They're not changing anything. They're not doing anything new. You're stable. So there are always two sides of that. And like Linda said, the ombudsman is that mediator. But I just want to point out as well that if, for example, you do appeal and your appeal is denied and you've stayed three days longer than you should have according to the hospital, you were discharged, the hospital can bill you privately for those days in the hospital. Some hospitals will, some won't. I mean, but they have that ability to be able to do that. So, you just gotta weigh everything and look at all of your options. Again, requesting a care conference, with the social worker and the entire team.
Pam Dunwald: [00:27:57] That's a great way to make sure everybody's on the same page and ask questions. Everybody meets in, in the aging loved ones room and everybody kind of talks it out. And that's where you can ask everybody questions. And another thing was you could ask for a reevaluation, like Linda talked a lot about the appeal option again. And then just slow down, make sure you're confirming medications. Are you supposed to go home with any equipment? Are you having any follow ups? You know who's getting the equipment in my home. Have my follow up appointments been made? Here's an area where we get into trouble. If you go home or you're discharged on the weekend. The clinics aren't open on Saturday. You're going home on Saturday. Who's responsible for contacting that clinic on Monday to make your follow up appointment? Is it the hospital or is it you? We've seen this many times where people don't show up for a follow up appointment because they didn't know they had one, and they were discharged on a weekend, so discharging on a weekend could be a little tricky.
Linda Kritikos: [00:28:58] So yeah, it can be, because if they've ordered home health, home health is not an extension of the hospital stay. That means home health is not going to come there and stay with you 24/7. They are an intermittent episodic support service that has up to 48 hours after discharge from the hospital to come out and assess you and admit you, if appropriate, if you meet the home health criteria. So if you're discharged on a Friday, home health may not come out to you until Sunday or Monday. There has to be some level of plan in place to make sure that you are safe at home until home health can come in and put some services in place to help you get back to a baseline level of functioning, especially if you're severely deconditioned from being in the hospital for any length of time. So you need to be aware of this and it is absolutely okay. And I can't stress this enough to say, you know, going home is not always the best discharge, if it isn't safe. So it's okay to speak up early. And I actually had a client that called me up and said, they called me this morning and said, my mom has to go home this afternoon. Her days are up. So what do you do then in that environment? So you pretty much have to put a stop to things and say, what's the rationale for discharging so quickly? Were you not made aware of it earlier? Was the patient made aware and they're just giving you a courtesy follow up? What is the whole story? So it's very important when you get calls like that to make sure that you work with the social worker and the discharge planner to understand the rationale of that type of discharge.
Pam Dunwald: [00:30:51] And just know too, there's so much that goes on behind the scenes, you know, especially with the insurance company. Oftentimes insurance companies will ask for daily updates. They have written criteria that the discharge planners have to follow. And so oftentimes, insurance companies say, you know what? We're only going to approve one more day. And even though the hospital feels that you could maybe use an extra day or two, they'll do their best to clinically talk to a nurse or the doctors can talk to medical directors to try and get that. But, you know, at the end of the day, a lot of times it's the insurance companies that are following a written list of criteria. When you come in with this diagnosis, by this day, you should be okay. And if you're not, the hospital has to justify why you're staying longer. So there's a lot of stuff that goes behind the scenes that is taken into consideration. And one last thing I want to mention about medications. And then we're going to be wrapping up. I had it happen one time where a patient was discharged. He had some confusion, some dementia. The wife called up and said, hey, can you have someone bring him down to the front of the hospital? I'm going to pick him up at the door, take him over, and go over to the. He was in for a blood clot.
Pam Dunwald: [00:32:19] And so the doctor started him on a blood thinner. And so when they got to the pharmacy, she saw a copay of $325 and she did not pick up the medication. So now we have someone who is at home that was admitted to the hospital with a blood clot. And if that blood clot could cause complications, go to the lungs, go anywhere, but she didn't pick up the medication because of the cost. So make sure if you're starting or if your loved one is starting on a new medication, have someone help you. Check the insurance formulary. Maybe they don't carry one of those new expensive blood thinners, but they carry the other one talking about like Xarelto and Eliquis. So make sure that if you're starting new medications, don't hesitate to ask, how much is this going to cost me before you leave the hospital? So that was one thing I did want to say about medications. But really, to sum it up today, we've covered three discharge realities. We've covered leaving against medical advice, medication errors after discharge, and what to do when it's not working at home. And also, if you feel that you're leaving too soon. So we've included questions. We're going to put the show notes, the transitions of care guide in the show notes for you. And we're going to make sure that you know what you do as you're being discharged or changing levels of care.
Linda Kritikos: [00:33:41] So remember, discharge should come with a plan that you should understand, not confusion, not pressure or fear. So we're very grateful that you're spending your time with us today. Our goal is to make your caregiving journey a little easier and a lot less overwhelming.
Pam Dunwald: [00:34:01] And don't forget to check out the show notes for helpful links, resources, and more details about today's topic. If you found this episode valuable, please share it with a friend or family member. Like, subscribe, please leave us a review. Your support really helps us reach more families who need guidance and hope. And also, I just want to say that, just remember all of our episodes are meant for educational purposes and are not intended to be medical advice. So if you have any questions, please always reach out to your healthcare provider.
Linda Kritikos: [00:34:34] Yes. And next week, we're going to be officially kicking off season two, Getting your Affairs in Order. And we'll start with a practical conversation to help you take the first step, even if you feel behind. We will kick it off with two estate planning attorneys, Steven and Pedro, and we are really excited to share with you our conversation with them because it was really interesting and it was really enjoyable. So until then, take care of yourself and your loved ones and we'll see you next time.