Lakeside Hospice

 General Info About Home Health Medical

Home health care is a program that provides care for adults that are completely or mostly homebound and are not able to receive medical care from outside of the home due to surgery or injury. It is within a patient’s rights to choose a home health care provider so if a doctor or hospitalist orders Home Health the patient indicate which provider they prefer.

Home health care includes medical care to rehabilitate seniors that have fallen ill due to a chronic condition, are recovering from a hospital stay, or need care for an injury. This type of care may involve occupational, physical, and speech therapy services, depending on the senior’s circumstance.

While senior home health care focuses on medical care, some service providers will also help the patient with cleaning or bathing, dressing, eating and other activities of daily living (ADLs) if the senior patient is not well enough to perform these tasks without assistance.

Paying for Home Health Care

Home Health is covered by almost all medical insurance providers and is also covered by Medicare and Medicaid. Services must be ordered by a medical professional, and providers must be Medicare/Medicaid certified. If you choose a home health care agency that is not certified by either Medicare or Medicaid, you will have to pay for home care services out of your pocket.

Home Health is only provided for a short term in order to recover from an injury or illness. A nurse will establish goals at the onset of care and will end care once the goals have been reached.

 General Info About Hospice Care

Hospice care is a holistic approach intended for patients with terminal or advanced illnesses that can no longer be treated or controlled. It involves providing comfort and compassion to people approaching the end of life to help them live as fully as possible during their final moments. Generally, patients will be qualified for hospice care if their physician declares that they are terminally ill and only have six months or less time left to live.

Hospice home care includes many services that allow patients to be cared for from the comforts of their homes like coordination of services, family counseling, medical assistance, nutritional planning, medical equipment needs and pain medication for comfort.

Paying for Hospice

Hospice is covered by almost all medical insurance providers and is also covered by Medicare and Medicaid. The physician will place an order for Hospice if they feel the patient has 6 months or less to live. However, a patient can also be suffereing from a long-term condition which could result in death within 6 months.

Patients often stay on hospice longer than 6 months so the patient must be recertified by the physician every six months to keep retaining hospice services.