What is Home Health Care?

Article submitted by James Contos of Mountain Valley Health Care. He can be reached at 800 368-7137.

Everyone knows the answer because most home care is of the informal variety with families and friends providing substantial amounts of care, including very high tech kinds of care as well as simpler assistance with bathing or dressing. However, many Americans are not familiar with formal home health care. The health care professionals most often involved are Nurses followed by Physical and Occupational Therapists, and Certified Nurse Aides. Other health care providers may include Respira-tory and Speech Therapists, and Medical Social Workers. Home health care is generally paid for by private employer-sponsored health insurance or public payers (Medicare and Medicaid), or by private-pay (paid with the family's or patient's own resources).

The Concept of Home Health Care
Home Care and Home Health Care are phrases that are used interchangeably, to mean any type of care given to a person in their own home. Both phrases are used interchangeably regardless of whether the person requires Skilled Care by professionals or not. When a loved one or friend is unable to care for himself or herself and requires help with medical care, personal care or household chores, home health care may be a sensible solution.

Home care aims to enable people to remain at home rather than use residential, long-term, or institutional-based nursing care. Care workers visit patients/clients in the person's own home to help with daily tasks such as getting up, going to bed, dressing, toileting, personal hygiene, some household tasks, shopping, cooking, supervision of medication, wound care, rehabilitation after an hospital stay or recovery from an illness.

Workers visit the home on a schedule determined in part by a Licensed Physician and in part by the type of insurance a patient has. Visits range from a few days a week, to every day. Visits may range from approximately an hour up to around-the-clock service.

The availability of many different home health care services makes it possible for patients to stay independent, remain in familiar surroundings, and keep costs down. Home care is not just for the sick or for the elderly. It can be for anyone. Individuals and families who are troubled by a variety of health and social problems, short or long-term illness, injury, mental disorders and retardation, alcoholism, and physical or social handicaps, among others.

Loss of independence is for many their greatest fear. Staying in their own home as long as is possible can mean a great deal to many people. Familiar surroundings can be therapeutic. Home care can be a good option for many people. They are able to stay in the familiar surroundings of their own home, but have greater piece of mind.

They will have more control over the decisions in life that can mean so much. Something simple such as deciding what time to get up and what to eat can become very important, if there is a threat that those choices may be taken away from you.

How Can I Get Care at Home?
If home care is provided under Medicare, the cost of the services is covered completely. You can go on and off Medicare Home Health as many times as needed. You must meet the following guidelines:

1. You must need at least one of the following: intermittent (and not full time) skilled nursing care, or physical therapy or speech language pathology services; and

2. You must be homebound. This means that you are normally unable to leave home. Being homebound means that leaving home is a major effort. When you leave home, it must be infrequent, for a short time, or to get medical care; and

3. The home health agency caring for you must be approved by the Medicare program.

4. Your physician's approval for your plan of care. Most home health providers will call your physician on your behalf for approval.

State Medicaid home care is covered 100%, but these programs generally have income qualifications. They also have rules or guidelines for approval, but many times can be for longer periods of time not just intermittent care. Commercial insurance sees the benefits of home care. There has been an increase in the utilization of home care over the past few years. You can request home care from your physician, hospital or your insurance carrier may request it directly.

Another option for paying for this care is long-term care insurance. Most will cover a portion of home care that is provided, but generally it pays for personal type care and not medical care. Check the benefits carefully.

Life is full of peaks and valleys
As our health care environment continues to change, home health care will become a more important and widely used piece of the system. Soon everyone will know the answer to "what is home care?" because it will be as common as hospitals and nursing homes.