Integrity Point of View Articles
Home Health Care Options in Springfield, Missouri: FAQs
By: Integrity Home Care + Hospice
Integrity Home Care and Hospice knows there’s no place like home. That’s why we work hard to provide medical care that helps patients stay in their homes when recovering from an injury or dealing with a new medical diagnosis. Home health care is a category of care that includes a variety of services delivered directly to a patient at their home. However, like many types of healthcare, home health care has a lot of variables. In order to help you understand home health care, we’ve compiled a list of frequently asked questions about the topic.
What is home health care?
Home health care is skilled care delivered by a medical professional to a patient at their home in order to help treat or manage an illness, injury, or medical condition. Typically, nurses, therapists, or aides provide home health care with the goal of helping the patient to regain their independence and be as self-sufficient as possible.
What’s the difference between home health care and home care?
Home health care and home care both take place in a patient’s home, but they are different types of care. Home health care is medical care whereas home care (or in-home care, as it’s sometimes called) typically relates to personal care, such as grooming, bathing, dressing, meal preparation, and light housekeeping and laundry.
What services are included in home health care ?
A variety of services are included in home health care, but in general, services fall under five categories, skilled nursing care, physical therapy, speech therapy, occupational therapy, and medical social work.
Examples of skilled nursing care
- Wound care and dressing
- Teaching patients to administer their medications and injection, how to perform gastrostomy feedings, tracheostomy care, and ostomy care
- Managing a patient care plan
- Assessing a newly diagnosed medical condition
- Overseeing a patient’s new medication
- Disimpaction
Physical therapy
- Evaluation
- Therapeutic exercises
- Evaluation
Speech therapy
- Evaluation
- Cognitive assessment
- Language disorder treatment
- Aural rehabilitation
- Dysphagia treatment
- Speech articulation disorder
Occupational Therapy
- Evaluation
- ADL training
- Orthotics/splinting
- Adaptive equipment
- Fine-motor coordination
- Neuro-development treatment
- Sensory treatment
Medical Social Work
- Short term therapy or counseling
- Assessment of emotional condition
- Resource planning
Related Post: Day-to-Day Self-Care Advice for Aging Gracefully
Coverage options and affordable plans for home health care
- Medicaid
- Medicare
- County Tax and Grant Programs
- Private Insurance
- VA Benefits
- Private Payment
- Worker’s Compensation
Learn more about our accepted forms of coverage online. Our client representative team assists families with finding resources for care and monitoring service quality for ongoing improvements.
Does Medicare or Medicaid cover home health care?
Yes! However, a patient must meet certain criteria for Medicare or Medicaid to cover home health care
- The patient is home-bound. Homebound means that a patient is unable to safely leave their home without assistance, either by another person or an assisted device (such as a wheelchair, walker, or cane).
- The patient has a medical condition that falls within the below categories
- They’ve have received a new medical diagnosis
- They’ve started a new medication or changed their medication dosage
- They’ve experienced a recent fall
- A previous diagnosis has gotten worse
Integrity provides excellent home health services
Are you or a loved one in need of home health services? Do you have questions, but are not quite sure where to start? Give us a call today at 855-442-4968 or contact us online to begin your road to recovery.
