In Home Health Care – What Are My Options? Part II
Posted on 13. Jul, 2010 by Aaron Yeagle in Articles, In-Home Care, Senior Health
Last week we visited In Home Care including what it is, who provides the care, how to screen caregivers, caregiver employers, and payment options for in home care. This article will be focused on a separate avenue of in home health care: home health.
Home Health
Home health is a higher level of care provided by a nurse, generally a registered nurse (RN) or licensed practical nurse (LPN). Nurses can provide home health services intermittently (periodic visits), hourly (having a consistent schedule to provide multiple hours of care), or come to your house as a one-time visit.
The list of home health services a nurse provides is much more extensive than ADL assistance offered by caregivers. Nurses can provide medication management, administer medication, wound therapy, patient assessments, and manage tube feedings, IV therapy, trach care, and vent-dependent patients. Also, nurses may provide home health services under your physician’s supervision, or orders, expanding your network of healthcare. Depending on your state’s particular nursing regulations and the company your nurse works for, a RN will likely be able to provide higher level of care than a LPN would be able to because of the further extensive training required to obtain a RN license.
Home health nurses can come from a multitude of sources. Some may independently contract with physician’s offices, or other rehab and therapy doctors such as a chiropractor. Nurses can be employed by companies offering hospice services and will visit you to do assessments, manage wounds, and inject or administer medication. Home health nurses are also employed by home health agencies to offer such nursing services as insulin injections, hourly care for patients who require tube feedings, general health assessments, and many other home health services. And of course nurses are employed by hospitals and other healthcare facilities who also offer home health services.
Payment for home health services is a little more complicated than receiving in home care provided by caregivers. Generally, a client will pay out of pocket for a caregiver’s services. But for home health, insurance will normally cover the costs, or part of the cost. Your regular insurance, whether private insurance or Medicare, and other insurance options, such as long term care insurance and Medicaid, tend to pick up home health claims because they are categorized as ‘skilled nursing’ or the patient is under more ‘life-threatening’ conditions. However, it is important to note there have been many cases in which patients request home health services without verifying their insurance benefits will or can cover the services. Patients must know, or seek professional help, in determining if their insurance will pay for each specific home health service. Home health is very expensive, often 3-5 times the rates for caregivers providing home care, and it can be detrimental to a family’s long term financial well-being to be stuck with a large medical bill.
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