Planning for Your Stay at Touchstone Neurorecovery Center

Touchstone Neurorecovery Center understands that you may have questions about your stay or the stay of a loved one.  Our goal is to provide advanced rehabilitative care to help each individual achieve the highest level of independence possible in a home-like environment.  We believe that family members and caregivers are an important part of the healthcare team and recovery process.  We welcome your questions.  Please ask the Touchstone team of doctors, nurses, and healthcare professionals any questions you may have about our services.

Upon admission to Touchstone Neurorecovery Center, each resident will receive a resident handbook that includes information about our facility, our resident and guest services, billing information, and resident rights and responsibilities.  To help you learn more about a prospective stay at Touchstone Neurorecovery Center, we’ve listed the answers to many frequently asked questions (FAQs) below.

1. What is your visitation policy?

    

   We welcome visitors and want to make families and friends feel at home.  Our residents are involved in daily activities designed to facilitate their recovery. We respectively request that you adhere to the visiting hours listed below.  Our regular business hours are Monday through Friday from 8:30 a.m. to 5:00 p.m.  For patient safety and security, all visitors are required to check in.  During business hours, all visitors are required to obtain a visitor identification badge at the Administration building. After hours and on weekends, please sign in at the resident’s house. Visiting hours are as follows:

    

   Monday through Thursday: 4:00 p.m. to 9:00 p.m.

   Friday:  4:00 p.m. to 12:00 p.m. midnight

   Saturday: 6:00 a.m. to 12:00 p.m. midnight

   Sunday:  6:00 a.m. to 9:00 p.m.

    

2. Can my loved one come home on an overnight pass during his/her stay?

    

   The provision for overnight passes depends on a number of factors that include patient stability, insurance requirements, length of stay expectations and physician approval.  Generally, private insurance companies DO NOT allow overnight passes, but some allow for limited day passes.  Texas Department of Assistive and Rehabilitative Services (DARS) clients are allowed three (3) overnight passes per month.  Policies associated with workers’ compensation, private pay, and other State funding programs vary and should be discussed with a program director or case manager.

    

3. Can family or caregivers spend the night with the resident?

    

   Our care facilities are for residents only.  Privacy laws and Texas Assisted Living Standards prevent us from allowing family members to stay overnight in the room with the resident. Several local hotels, located only minutes from our center, offer discounted room rates.

    

4. Do you have private rooms? We have private and semi-private rooms available at Touchstone Neurorecovery Center.  Availability varies by house and occupancy and is based upon clinical/medical needs.  Please discuss your desire for a private room with the admissions department or clinical liaison.

    

5. What clothes and personal affects should I bring for admission?

   Please bring the following personal/financial documentation:

   • Legal documents, such as guardianship papers, power of attorney papers, advanced directives, driver’s license, social security card, and state and government IDs, if applicable.  Note: Please bring a copy of your birth certificate if a state or government issued ID or social security card are not available

   • Insurance information, including all insurance cards, Medicare cards, and Medicaid papers;

   • Names and phone numbers of contact persons you want in your records;

   • A list of current treating physicians, their phone numbers, and information about any doctor appointments which are already scheduled;

   • All current medications in original containers/packaging;

   • Credit card information for pharmacy orders;

   • Financial deposit for hygiene purchases, community outings, co-pays, etc

   Please bring personal items such as the following:

   • Casual, comfortable, and weather appropriate clothing (at least one week’s supply is recommended).  The center provides complimentary onsite laundry facilities.  We recommend that clothes and possessions be labeled prior to admission.

   • Toiletries such as a toothbrush and toothpaste, shampoo, soap, hairbrushes, combs, deodorant, cosmetics, and shaving equipment;

   • Small electronic devices, such as radios/clock radios and hair dryers.  We encourage residents to bring an alarm clock.

   • Touchstone Neurorecovery Center provides you with towels, sheets, laundry detergents, and fabric softeners.  However, you may bring your own bedding and decorative items to personalize your room.

   • Assistive devices such as wheelchairs, canes, braces, splints, eyeglasses, hearing aides, and dentures

   • The program director maintains and monitors any tobacco products brought to Touchstone.

   Please do NOT bring the following items to the campus:

   • Personal computers

   • ATM cards (if brought, the card must be turned in to the administrative assistant to be locked in a safe with your financial information)

   • Sharp objects

   • Pets

   • Large electronic or audio equipment such as TVs, VCRs, DVD players, and stereos

   • Expensive or sentimental items of clothing or jewelry

    

6. Can the resident leave the campus regularly during the day for lunches or meetings (for example, every Wednesday for parents’ day at school)?

    

   It is important for residents to be involved consistently in their daily therapeutic program to maximize their improvement.  Additionally, some funding sources discourage this practice.   Failure to attend therapeutic programming may impact the resident’s rehabilitative progress and payor funding.  Because of these factors, we discourage residents from leaving campus during the day for non-medical reasons.

    

7. What is the typical length of stay for a resident at Touchstone Neurorecovery Center?

    

   Because brain injuries vary considerably, length of stay is determined largely by the extent of the injury and the resident’s ability to engage in rehabilitation. Our average length of stay is three months, but we can also accommodate individuals seeking a longer continuum of care.

    

8. What funding sources are accepted at Touchstone?

    

   Touchstone Neurorecovery Center accepts private health insurance plans, workers’ compensation plans, State of Texas funding from the Department of Assistive and Rehabilitative Services, and has contracts with Medicaid programs in several states.  The center will negotiate a “letter of agreement” with funding sources, if necessary.  Individuals and their families may also pay for services through private funds, trusts, or settlements and annuities.

    

9. What types of diagnoses and conditions are treated at Touchstone?

    

   Touchstone offers post-acute rehabilitation services to individuals with traumatic or acquired brain injuries or other neurologic diseases and conditions.  This includes conditions such as strokes, cerebrovascular accidents (CVAs), spinal cord injuries, anoxic injuries, toxic exposure, post-neurologic surgery, and various developmental disabilities.  Some individuals in our program have neurobehavioral issues which may result in difficulty with self-regulation or self-control, impulse control, over arousal, frustration tolerance and problems in perception.  They may overreact to situations, get angry without provocation, or behave in socially inappropriate ways.  Touchstone’s rehabilitation program addresses the medical, rehabilitative, behavioral and psychosocial issues resulting from brain injuries or neurologic conditions.

    

10. Who is on the rehabilitation team?

     

    The medical treatment plan for each resident is led by a physician, who works closely with the nursing, therapy, and the allied health team at Touchstone to provide care for each resident.  Additionally, a program director is assigned to each resident and provides supervision to care staff assisting that resident.  Case managers also participate in the care process and actively monitor the treatment and rehabilitation plan for each resident.  Touchstone employs a skilled team of licensed therapists and nurses specializing in brain injury rehabilitation that provide physical therapy, occupational therapy, speech therapy, cognitive therapy, psychological services, vocational therapy, recreational therapy, and 24-hour nursing care.

     

11. Can families attend therapy sessions with their loved ones?

     

    Family members are encouraged to attend individual therapy sessions, when appropriate. However, due to confidentiality and federal patient privacy regulations, family members may not attend group therapy sessions.  Family training sessions are often held to prepare family members to care for their loved ones at home.  Please contact a member of the therapy team or your resident’s program director if you have questions about attending a therapy session.

     

12. How does rehabilitation influence recovery?

     

    Rehabilitation is a critical part of the recovery process for individuals with brain injuries or other neurologic conditions.  In the early phases of rehabilitation, the rehabilitation team focuses on maximizing a natural recovery process.  Specific deficits or problem areas are identified and treatment is directed at improving function within these areas.  As the individual progresses through rehabilitation, the focus shifts toward replacing skills and functions that have been lost.  In the post-acute phase of rehabilitation, the emphasis is on functional skills re-training.  Re-learning and adaptation are heavily emphasized in brain injury rehabilitation.  We have learned that the human brain is capable of overcoming significant problems created by injury.  Effective rehabilitation takes individuals from a medical environment into the community and even into their homes, schools, or workplaces.  With that approach, our rehabilitation professionals can develop strategies and interventions for your loved one which are based on his or her unique care needs.

     

13. What is the average day like for a resident at Touchstone?

     

    The average day for a resident of Touchstone Neurorecovery Center consists of a highly structured schedule of therapeutic, recreational, and social programming.  We provide physical, occupational, speech, cognitive and vocational therapy during the day.  Additionally, the therapeutic team focuses on teaching residents’ skills to achieve maximum independence.  We provide supervised community outings that provide functional rehabilitation and recreational therapy, along with “fun” outings, such as trips to local events, shopping, and fishing.  Individuals with neurologic disabilities benefit from treatment in programs that offer multiple opportunities for learning, provide reinforcement through practice, and focus on pragmatic and functional skills which the person will need to return to a life of independence.

     

14. Is smoking allowed at your facility?

     

    Smoking is allowed at Touchstone in designated areas only.  Smoking materials are kept in a centralized location in each house and a certain number of designated smoking breaks are provided during the day.