Home health questions and answers

Medicare, Medicaid and many insurance plans cover some or all of skilled home care. Call your insurance company about your benefits and contact us to see if we accept your insurance. Most insurance requires you are home-bound, which means you get very tired when you leave your home but still can go to the doctor or church.

If you are in the hospital, ask your doctor to order home care. Let your nurse or social worker know you want our agency. We will usually admit you to home care one to two days after you leave the hospital.

If you are at home, ask your doctor to give our agency orders.

Admit Visit: The first visit to your home will be the admit visit. This visit can take about two hours. We will review your concerns, make sure you’re safe in your home and see what help you get from friends and family. We’ll use this information to plan the care you need and determine the number of visits. It will help if the person most familiar with your needs is there during this visit. Also, please have the following to show our nurse or therapist:

• Insurance cards
• Drugs ordered by your doctor
• Hospital discharge instructions
• Copy of your Advance Directive

Follow-up Visit: During follow-up visits, we will make sure you are following your doctor’s orders. We’ll help teach you about your disease and how to take care of yourself so you will be safe in your home. We try to schedule the visit when it’s convenient for you. It may be scheduled for a specific time if the nurse must give you medicine or take a blood sample.

There are several area home health agencies. Here are some questions to consider when choosing one.

• How quickly will you return my phone call after hours?
• How do I reschedule visits?
• What if I have a question that needs answered between visits?
• What do my friends say about the agency?
• Which agency will do the best job at keeping me from being readmitted to the hospital?
• Which agency will do the best job at keeping me from the Emergency Room?

To see how we compare to other agencies, visit Home Health Compare.