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What is Home Health Care?
Home Health Care is more than convenient; it's good medicine. For many folks it is the best alternative to hospitalization, re-hospitalization, or nursing home placement. Studies show that patients recover faster from an illness or hospitalization if they receive care in their own homes. In this day and age, patients are often discharged earlier from the hospital than in the past and they need some short-term help to complete their recovery and transition back to the home. Home health care can help smooth this process. Home health care is also cost effective. A typical home health visit costs approximately one-tenth the cost of an average day in the hospital.
How Do I Qualify?
Medicare pays 100% of the cost of home health services if the patient needs intermittent skilled nursing care or therapy, the service has been prescribed by the patient's physician, and the patient is home bound. Qualifications for the other payors varies. REMEMBER, you have the right to choose your home health provider.
What Services are Available?
Skilled Nursing- RN's and LVN's provide a full range of nursing services including wound care, medication monitoring, and patient/caregiver education, just to name a few.
Home Care Aide- trained home care aides provide personal assistance with the normal activities of daily living including areas such as bathing, personal grooming, light housekeeping, and light meal assistance.
Physical Therapy- licensed therapists teach exercises and the proper use of adaptive devices designed to help the patient recover to their maximum potential.
Occupational Therapy- licensed therapists help the patient transition back to their home setting by helping them learn to use adaptive devices and by teaching them "new" ways to do "old" things.
Speech Therapy- licensed therapsts work with patients to help them recover their ability to speak/swallow after a stroke or illness.
Medical Social Worker- licensed social workers help patients and their families deal with issues such as coping with illness and the aging process, end of life decisions, funding for medications, qualifying for personal service programs, and identifying available community resources.
Dietitian- registered dietitians help the patient evaluate their current diet and what changes, if any, that they can make to promote healthy living and proper nutrition.