Home healthcare allows patients to continue receiving medical treatments in the comfort and convenience of their own home, often at lower cost and greater effectiveness than hospital-based services.
To qualify for home health care under Medicare’s definition of being “Homebound”, seniors must meet this threshold. That means being physically unable to leave their residence without assistance from another individual.
Skilled Nursing
Home health nurses are experienced in administering various medical-related treatments in the comfort of a patient’s own home, including administering medications through injection, providing wound care services and keeping an eye out for any changes in condition of their patient.
Home health nurses offer patients an alternative to being under constant hospital supervision: more personalized relationships that have proven to aid in recovery. This has proved particularly valuable during times of acute illness or trauma.
Medicare covers home health nursing services if the physician orders it as medically necessary and intermittent – meaning your loved one must show evidence of improvement that can be measured over time.
Rehabilitative Care
Rehabilitative care involves maintaining, restoring or improving skills and abilities lost due to illness, injury or surgery. Certified physical, occupational and speech therapists work directly with you or your loved one at home.
Medicare covers up to 80% of the costs for special equipment like wheelchairs and walkers provided through home health care programs like Medicare.
Recovering at home allows individuals to remain connected with their families, communities, places of worship and other essential aspects of their lives – and could potentially help prevent more serious complications from arising.
Dietary Assessments
Dietary assessments involve interviewing patients regarding their eating habits. Nurses should ask patients about the foods they typically eat and whether their diet has changed over time.
An evaluation can help detect nutritional deficiencies or excesses within the body, and determine if their diet supports their medical condition.
Dietary assessment methods are susceptible to measurement error. Errors can occur randomly or consistently and impede causal inference. For more information about assessing patient diets using self-report data collection methods, click here for Best Practice Guidelines on collection of such data.
Laboratory Tests
Laboratory tests involve taking samples of your blood, urine or other bodily fluids in order to gain additional insights about your health. Doctors usually order laboratory tests in order to help diagnose disease or monitor chronic conditions.
Home healthcare workers frequently visit patients in their own homes. Their tasks may include taking blood pressure readings and temperature readings, assessing wounds, providing wound dressing advice and giving instructions for taking medications correctly.
Clinicians working in home healthcare must recognize their limits in controlling homebound patients. For instance, patients receiving home health services may choose to take medication at irregular intervals instead of adhering strictly to an allotted schedule.
Medical Equipment
Home health equipment and supplies (sometimes referred to as durable medical equipment or DME) can help people manage their medical conditions at home more easily and enjoy a higher quality of life. These devices may also assist individuals who suffer from chronic illnesses or injuries.
Home healthcare devices can often be utilized by lay caregivers such as family or friends without proper training or support for their use of these devices.
Some devices are specially-crafted to be safe and user-friendly for everyone involved, from lay caregivers who operate them to users themselves. Such “inclusive” devices have specific features that cater to the needs of all their users.
Transportation
Home healthcare workers face many potential health and safety hazards in their line of work, such as exposure to bloodborne pathogens or biological hazards, ergonomic hazards from patient lifting activities and vehicle-related risks during travel between patient homes and clinic locations.
Home health care providers offer various transportation options to their clients to help make medical appointments as accessible as possible, from wheelchair-accessible transport and non-emergency medical transport, all the way through door-to-door delivery services.
Transportation services may help decrease the rate at which chronic disease patients miss clinician appointments and medication adherence issues develop, while serving as a powerful door opener for home healthcare agencies looking to build relationships within local communities.
Telehealth
Telehealth allows individuals to remain connected to friends and family while receiving healthcare services remotely, while also giving access to specialists outside their community.
Remote patient monitoring (RPM) involves collecting data remotely in order to send it directly to a healthcare provider for interpretation and use. RPM is particularly beneficial in rural areas as it provides medical assistance without barriers such as transportation.
Virtual care check-ins can help physicians meet Medicare reimbursement standards by meeting face-to-face physician visit requirements. However, it’s essential that nurses working in virtual care check-ins be licensed in their state of practice and adhere to Board of Nursing guidelines.