I struggle answering this question because the truth is that home health is a very large field of services. Wrapping up all of what home health is in a single blog post is not an easy thing to do. This is why I hope to communicate how essential it is to speak to one of our skilled home health or hospice coordinators when trying to plan for your future.
With that being said, I hope this article will help you understand what home health provides, who qualifies for it, and what it can do for you.
What home health provides?
Home Health is often referred to as post-acute care. What that means is that home health has been historically, but certainly not exclusively, provided to individuals recently discharged from acute settings such as rehabilitation centers and hospitals. In these scenarios, a patient likely would have received surgeries or procedures that take more time to heal or rehabilitate, so the physician requests the patient to be discharged with home health. This allows the patient to return home and rehabilitate under the care of in-home nurses and therapists.
While hospitals and rehabs are frequent home health referral sources, they are certainly not the only way a patient can be set up with home health. Home health can be provided to anyone who receives an order from a licensed, practicing physician. A common example of this is if an individual develops some type of wound or trouble walking around their house, their primary care physician may order home health to come into their home and help them dress their wound or improve their gait.
Home health can provide so many different services including skilled nursing care; physical, occupational, and vocational therapies; certified nurse’s assistant aid; and social work services. And surprisingly, many times these services can be provided at absolutely no cost to the patient.
Who qualifies for home health?
As I have stated previously, home health can only be provided once a licensed, practicing physician orders it. But, in order to qualify for the home health in the first place, there are several criteria that must be met. For starters, the patient must be homebound. This means that the patient’s condition must restricts their ability to leave their place of residence without assistance. If the patient can safely get themselves into a car and drive somewhere, the patient might not meet the homebound qualification.
There are a lot more qualifications, but I doubt I could fit them all into a single blog post. That is why I recommend calling one of our skilled associates who can listen to your situation and suggest the best course of action for you.
What can home health do for you?
Home health is a wonderful service meant to bring health care providers directly into the place where you are most comfortable—your home! When you are admitted to Aspire Home Health, you have the opportunity to discuss with your nurse what exactly your health-related goals are. Your nurse will then create a personalized recovery plan specific to what you want to accomplish.
Aspire Home Health representatives are your senior health advocates and we are ready 24 hours a day, 7 days a week ready to answer your questions and provide you with excellent, 5-star care every time. Let Aspire Home Health know how we can help you.
