What is Home Care? How Was Home Care Started? Who Pays for Home Care? What Are the Advantages of Home Care? What Does "Medicare-Certified" Mean? What Is Hospice? What are The Differences Between a Homemaker and Home Health Aide? How do I qualify for Home Care under Medicare? How do I find Home Care services?   What is Home Care? Home care is a service for recovering, disabled, or chronically ill persons who need medical treatment and/or assistance with their activities of daily living. Generally home care is appropriate when a person requires care and family or friends cannot easily or effectively provide it on their own. The number of people who receive home care is estimated to be at more than 7 million by the National Association for Home Care (NAHC). This number increases every day, as greater numbers of people are leaving hospitals and other institutions sooner and/or avoiding using them altogether due to advancing technology. State-of-the-art equipment for use in the home now can provide treatments that once were available only in the hospital. How Was Home Care Started? Home care has been an American tradition for more than a century. Starting in the 1880s, public health nurses traveled to patient's homes, caring for the sick, teaching family members how to provide care in their absence, suggesting ways to improve health, and comforting the dying. As the nurse's role in saving lives became more apparent, insurance companies started to offer visiting nurse services to their working and middle-class policyholders faced with illness. By 1916 these services were available to more than 10 million policyholders in the United States, creating the first nationwide system of insurance payment for home-based care. Who Pays for Home Care? Home care is paid for directly by the patient and his or her family members, or through a variety of private and public sources. Souhegan Home and Hospice Care will provide care regardless of the patient's and/or family's ability to pay. Private insurance programs typically cover some services for acute needs, but benefits for long-term services vary from plan to plan. Public third-party payors include Medicare, Medicaid, the Older Americans Act, the Veterans Administration, Social Services Block Grant Programs, and community organizations. What Are the Advantages of Home Care? There are several advantages of home care, here are a few: Home care improves our society's quality of life by enabling individuals to stay in the comfort and security of their own homes during times of illness, disability, and recuperation. Home care maintains the patient's dignity and independence, qualities that commonly are lost in institutional settings Home care is less expensive than other forms of health care delivery. In 1997 the average Medicare charges per day in a hospital and skilled nursing facility are estimated at $2022 and $426 respectively. The average Medicare charge per home care visit during this time is an estimated $90. Home care offers a wide range of specialized services, tailored to meet the needs of every individual on a personal provider-to-patient basis. Home care reinforces and supplements informal care by educating the patients' family members and friends about the caregiving process. What Does "Medicare-Certified" Mean? A Medicare-certified home health agency is one that has met the federal minimum requirements for patient care and management and therefore can provide Medicare and Medicaid home health services. Individuals requiring skilled home care services usually receive their care from a home health agency. Due to regulatory requirements, services provided by these agencies are highly supervised and controlled. Agencies may be "licensed and certified" (meet Medicare standards and must be utilized for this payor source) or "licensed" (meet state standards of care and may be utilized for other payor sources). What Is Hospice? Hospice is a Medicare funded program whose philosophy of care is to provide support for persons diagnosed by a doctor with a terminal illness with a prognosis of six months or less to live so they may live the remainder of their lives at home with friends and family at their side, comfortable, and free from pain. Hospice provides a coordinated program of palliative care to terminally ill patients, and supportive services to patients, their families, and significant others through a physician-directed plan of care. Hospice care is provided by a group of skilled professionals and volunteers who provide medical, nursing, home health aide, social services, spiritual care, bereavement services, volunteer services, and other appropriate counseling services. Hospice also includes the provision of medications, medical supplies, and equipment. Most hospices are Medicare certified and licensed according to state requirements. What are The Differences Between a Homemaker and Home Health Aide? Homemaker services are unlicensed people who provide support for people through meal preparation, housekeeping, and errands. They cannot provide personal care services, as they are not trained to do so. Home health aides, are licensed and trained paraprofessionals who can provide assistance with bathing, dressing, exercises, ambulation, and other activities of daily living as ordered by the physician. Both homemakers and home health aides are supervised in the home setting by the agency staff on a regular basis to ensure that quality care is being rendered and that the plan of care set for the patient is effective and meeting the patient's needs. How do I qualify for Home Care under Medicare? Medicare's regulations state that if an individual is homebound, under a physician's care, and requires skilled nursing or therapy services in an intermittent manner, then he/she may qualify for home care services. A Medicare-certified home care agency must provide the services and a physician must authorize and periodically review the patient's plan of care. How do I find Home Care services? Several factors are important to consider when looking for a home care agency: Quality of Care Availability of Needed Services Service Area Personnel Training and Expertise Coverage Provided by Payor You need to know which type of services you need before you start your search. A physician, a hospital discharge planner, a social service organization, such as an Area Office on Aging, can assist you in evaluating your needs as well as offering agencies qualified to meet those needs. In addition, most state home care and hospice associations maintain directories of existing home care organizations and can assist you as well. Home care providers are also listed in the telephone yellow pages under "home care," hospice," or "nurses."
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