What is Home Health Care?
Home Health Care consists of a wide range of medical services that is given wherever you call home. The goal of care is treat an illness or injury. It is to help you recover from an illness, regain your strength and help you get back on your feet as soon as possible.
What services are provided in home care services?
In home care nurse evaluates each person to determine what services are needed. Services provided are usually intermittent service, as opposed to continuous or hourly services. Nurses, physical therapists, speech therapists, occupational therapists, medical social workers, and home health nursing assistants may provide services. Example of services may include:
- Wound care for pressure sores or a surgical wound
- Patient and caregiver education
- At-home intravenous or nutrition therapy
- Injections
- Monitoring serious illness and unstable health status
- Prescription management
- Pain management
How to qualify for home care assistants?
A healthcare provider identifies the need for care after a hospital stay or after a visit to the doctor’s appointment. Your physician has to write an order for home health care. You may choose the home healthcare service provider of your choice.
To qualify you need to be under the care of a physician, in need of short-term acute health care such as nursing or therapy care, and it should be a taxing effort to leave home and trips away from home should be infrequent and of short duration.
What is NOT included in home health care?
It does not include services that are non-medical like housekeeping, cooking, cleaning, bathing, personal hygiene, transportation, toileting, medication reminders or assistance with activities of daily living (ADLs). These services fall under the home care category and are paid privately or through long-term care insurance.
Who pays for it?
Medicare and some private insurance pay for the service.