Home Health Care Services Can Help A Patient Avoid Hospitalization

Rent a Daughter Services are a type of Medicare-approved home health care available to people who need help with day-to-day activities and who cannot do them on their own. These services are designed to improve a patient's ability to manage their chronic illness or recover from an injury or surgery, all while living at home.

Home health care professionals, like nurses, therapists and aides, visit patients in their homes to deliver home healthcare services under the guidance of a physician's plan of care. They can also work directly with a patient's family to help them set goals for their home health care.

These medically-focused home health care services can be provided in a private home, adult foster homes, assisted living or memory care facilities, and long-term nursing homes. They include medical services such as skilled nursing, physical therapy, occupational therapy and speech therapy. Other services include wound care and medication management.

In addition to the skilled nursing, therapists and aides, some agencies offer support services, such as nutritionists who can assess a patient's diet and make recommendations; home health aides who can bathe or dress a patient; and social workers to help a patient find community resources. These services can help a patient get the most out of home health care services and may reduce the need for hospitalization.

Home health services can be expensive, especially when a person needs long-term home health care. However, some insurance plans -- including private insurance and long-term care insurance policies -- cover some or all of the costs of home health care.

Many home health patients have informal caregivers who assist them with daily tasks, such as cooking and cleaning. Because these caregivers are not professional clinicians, they do not have the training to identify signs and symptoms that a patient may be having a reaction to their medications. It is important for families to talk to their doctor about the care they are receiving at home and ask them to recommend a reputable home health care agency.

A good home health care agency can help a patient avoid hospitalization, which can increase costs and decrease quality of life. One way to do this is by identifying factors that lead to unplanned hospital admissions in their patient population and then taking steps to address those issues. For example, a study by Feldman and colleagues56 found that adverse events in home health care can be reduced when there is strong nurse-provider communication, fewer weekend admissions, equitably distributed incentives and supportive supervisory relationships.

A home health care agency should provide a caring environment that helps the patient meet their personal goals. This is why the quality of an agency's staff is so important, as well as having a strong focus on patient outcomes. Caregivers should be attentive, friendly and knowledgeable. They should know their patients and be able to respond quickly to any changes in a patient's condition. They should also be able to keep track of all the medications their patients take and make sure they are taken on time and properly administered.

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