With all the talk on TV and the radio about health insurance and health care these days, many people are understandably confused. What re the options? Who pays for my recovery? When can I go home? What kind of follow up care will I need? These are all valid questions designed to probe for useful information in an information overloaded environment. In order to make sense of it all, it may help to start at the beginning. Here are a few questions that will help clear things up:
- Am I a good candidate for home health care? Most patients that require some level of home health care have experienced a traumatic event that has rendered them either temporarily or permanently unable to care for themselves. Other candidates may have experienced an event that requires temporary specialized care.
- What kind of services does a home health care agency provide? Home health care agencies provide services for their patients including Occupational Therapy, Nursing, Medical Social Casework, Physical Therapy, Registered Dieticians, and Speech Therapy.
- How do I know what I need? Administrators in home health care fields generally have extensive medical training and consult with your personal physician concerning your specific plan of care. Once the physician prescribes an in-home recovery plan, the agency will dispatch certain on-staff professional providers in order to fulfill your recovery goals.
- Which agency should I choose? Sometimes your doctor will have contact in the local community for appropriate agencies. Other times your insurance carrier will have a list of agencies they contract with and you must choose from a provider on their approved list. When looking for an agency, make sure they are local, and accredited by the Joint Commission.
Once you have started your recovery process, a professional home health care agency will be screened to ensure the highest level of expertise. Agency personnel can help in all phases of your recovery including procuring and demonstrating the use of recovery aids such as wheelchairs and specialized beds. After an accident or illness, the hospital staff can only start you on the road to recovery. A professional home health agency can help you get your life back to normal.
