Home health care, as opposed to private duty health care in the home, involves intermittent visits from skilled services such as nurses, home health aides, or therapists such as physical, occupational or speech and language therapists. Home health care agencies also provide services from other home health care professionals such as medical social workers or dietitians if the patient needs these services.
Patients must have a need for skilled care, an MD willing and able to order and oversee the care, and in most instances must be home bound for the duration of the care.
Patients Get Better With Home Care
As the population ages and medical technology advances, patients are living longer. Studies have shown that patients get well quicker in their own homes when possible. In an effort to contain costs and promote wellness, patients are being discharged home earlier and sicker than ever before. This trend is expected to continue and the need for qualified home health professionals is expected to grow far into the next decade.
Home health care was once all about teaching patients how to care for themselves after hospitalization from an illness or an injury. Today, skilled nurses and therapists are helping patients transform their bedrooms into temporary mini care units.
The Many Modalities of Home Care
Patients may require care modalities such as wound care and dressing changes, IV’s or other medication management and education, disease management and education, or rehabilitative care and education following an injury, surgery, or a heart attack or stroke. Home health professionals have to be educated and proficient in a wide variety of tasks and modalities.
Patients, family members and hired caregivers are usually expected to participate in the care at home in between visits from nurses, aides and/or therapists. As long as the care is medically necessary and requires the management of a registered nurse or licensed therapist, most private health insurances, Medicaid and Medicare will pay for the home health services. Under Medicare especially, the patient must be home bound and therefore unable to seek the care from an outpatient source.
Duration of Home Health Care
The duration of home health care services is dependent on many factors such as the severity of the illness or injury, how quickly the patient and/or caregivers become independent in self care, and the home bound status. Home health care is not meant to be long term, and rarely is. The few exceptions include management of Foley catheters or G-tubes in debilitated patients.
Patients with chronic illnesses may have multiple episodes of home health care over a period of time, and others may need a few visits and not ever need this care again. As home health care becomes an even more common facet of the health care delivery system, more patients will receive home health care in lieu of hospitalization.