Looking for a Home Health Agency?

The National Association of Home Care suggests asking the following questions to help narrow your search:
Is the agency Medicare certified?
Is the agency licensed by the state?
What are the credentials of the agency’s caregivers
Are the healthcare professionals, nurses and caregivers employers or contract workers?
Will there be a written plan of care for each patient?
Visit www.agingcare.com for the complete list of questions and different categories to look into when searching for the right home health company.
Don’t forget that there must be a medical need for Medicare to pay for the services provided by a home health company. Medicare does not pay for custodial care such as making sure your mother-in-law has a daily bath, gets dressed or is ready to go to bed. Those things you may have to pay for on an hourly basis and talk with non-medicare caregivers to help.
To order home health is very simple:
Her doctor must order home healthcare and sign the plan or care.
The agency schedules a face to face meeting with the patient to develop what care and services she will need.
The plan of care and certification will last up to 60 days,
And the 60-day recertification periods last as long as she is improving and her doctor has to sign to the recertification periods.
The average person is not aware of the services they can receive from Medicare that can help to enhance their recovery at home.
Toni King, author of the new Medicare Survival Guide, which is a simple guide that puts Medicare in “people” terms, is on sale at www.tonisays.com. Toni is an advocate/consultant for those “Confused about Medicare.” Email questions to toni@tonisays.com or call 832=519-TONI (8664).