A Necessary Service
Home Health Care
How and when is home health care necessary?
Home Health Services and Payment:
Home Health Care provides in-home medical services to individuals who have lost a certain amount of their independence due to an illness, surgical procedure, or other event that has required medical attention (broken bones, car accidents, falls, etc.). Home Health patients require skilled assistance to help them get back on their feet and return to a more independent lifestyle.
Zion’s Way Home Health provides nursing services, home health aides, therapy (physical, occupational, and speech), social services, and complementary therapies (massage, music, aroma, etc.). All of these services, administered weekly along with 24/7 on-call service, are generally covered by Medicare, Medicaid, and most private insurance companies.
Goals of Home Health:
- Help each patient return to his or her optimal level of function and health
- Promote as much independence as possible
- Improve patient and caregiver knowledge and increase patient self-management
- Promote safety in the home setting
- As time goes by, the home health patient will work towards a “cure” for their ailment. This means the goals of home health will have been met and the patient will no longer require the assistance of the home health agency. This does not mean the patient has used up his or her home health benefit. If the patient suffers another medical episode, they can again be evaluated for home health eligibility (refer to above diagram).
Qualifying for Home Health:
The primary requirements to be eligible for Home Health Care include the following:
- The client must be homebound (short visits to medical or religious meetings as well as infrequent visits to places like the grocery store are perfectly acceptable; these types of trips are often physically taxing for the home health patient and require a certain amount of assistance)
- The client must require part-time or intermittent skilled services (skilled nursing, therapy, etc.) Patient receives home health care as long as they continue to have a skilled need.
