Home Health Care Services, its role in the continuum of care.
Stay At Home Healthcare Services provides home health services for patients who meet the criteria for services. Our dedicated employees provide services to the majority of Kaua’i. Often people only hear about home health services only when they or a family member needs it. We take this opportunity to provide you with information on home health and role it plays in the continuum of care.
What does continuum of care mean? Here is a scenario that may sound familiar to many of you. My friend’s 90 year old mother, Mary, was rushing to answer the phone when she tripped and fell. She uses a walker, but while rushing to get to the phone she decided to leave her walker behind. She felt immediate pain to her left hip and could not move. Luckily, she was able to activate the 911 system utilizing the life alert alarm system. She was taken to the emergency room where they diagnosed her with a left hip fracture. She was admitted to the hospital and underwent surgery to repair the hip. After 5 days in the hospital she was transferred to a Skilled Nursing Facility for continued rehabilitation. When Mary was ready for discharge, home health care was ordered to assist with Mary’s transition of care to her home.
What is home health care? Home health care is exactly what it says – medical care provided in a patient’s home. Home health care includes a range of health care services, including skilled nursing care, physical therapy, occupational therapy and speech therapy. It also includes non-medical care, such as medical social services and home health aide. Home health care is unique as a care setting not only because the care is provided in the home, but the care is less expensive, more convenient, and just as effective as care given in a facility setting.
When are home health services needed? Here are a few reason home health services would be needed. Following an inpatient hospitalization, rehabilitation, or a stay at a skilled nursing facility (like Mary), when there are medication changes that require monitoring, when the person is experiencing an overall decline in functioning; and wound care and treatment.
The overall goal for home health in the continuum of care is to help individuals to get better, to improve function and live with greater independence, to promote the patient’s optimal level of well-being, and to assist the patient to remain at home, avoiding hospitalization.
To learn more about the year-round services offered by Stay at Home Healthcare Services and the entire Ohana Pacific Management Company ohana, visit www.OhanaPacific.com.
Who is eligible to for home health services?
Home health services are covered by Medicare and Medicaid, as well as other private insurances.
For Medicare recipients, you must meet the following criteria:
• You must be under the care of a doctor, and you must be getting services under a plan of care reviewed regularly by a doctor.
• A doctor must certify that you need one or more of these:
• Intermittent skilled nursing care (other than drawing blood).
• Physical therapy, speech-language pathology, or continued occupational
therapy services.
• You must be homebound, and a doctor must certify that you’re homebound. You may leave the home for medical treatment or short, infrequent absences for non-medical reasons, like attending religious services. You can still get home health care if you attend adult day health.
