What is Home Health Care?
Home health care refers to care provided in the home to assist client with their daily living activities and medical care needs. Care is provided by a qualified medical or non-medical home care professional. Home health care includes medical services, typically performed by registered nurses, licensed practical nurses, physical therapists, occupational therapists, social workers and sometimes, doctors. Home health care agencies can also provide non-medical home care services such as personal care and companion care, commonly administered by home health aides, certified nursing assistants and home companions.
Home health care services help the disabled and senior population remain in their homes as opposed to being forced to live in an assisted living facility or nursing home setting. Home health care agencies are typically reimbursed through insurance payments, Medicaid or Medicare. Non-Medical home care services are typically private pay or reimbursed by Medicaid or long term care insurance coverage.
Home health care services typically include wound care, IV therapy, diabetic care, catheter care, cardiac and respiratory assessment, medication and pain management or cancer care while non-medical home care services include assistance with tasks such as bathing, eating, cleaning, and preparing meals.
The terms private duty home health care or private duty care are common and refer to a non-medical home care or home health care agency tending to private pay clients. Typically, non-medical home care is a private pay business, while home health care agencies rely of Medicare, Medicaid and private insurance companies as a means for reimbursement.
Home Care and Home Health Care Terminology
Home care, home health care and in home care are commonly used terms when describing home health care or non-medical home care provided in a home setting. These terms are often used loosely regardless of the services being provide, medical or non-medical. As the demand for non-medical home care agencies and home health care agencies grow, so does the understanding and definition of terminology.
Home Care and Home Health Care Licensure and Accreditation
Many states do not require a home health care agency to become licensed, but most states to require that a home health care agency achieve home health care licensure in their state to offer home health care and non-medical home care services. For home care agency’s offering only non-medical home care services, there is typically a separate license requirement or no license requirement at all in these states.
Home health care agencies are not required, but are expected to achieve accreditation through a 3rd party accrediting body in order to satisfy requirements set forth by Medicare, Medicaid and private insurance companies to assure that all reimbursement opportunities are available to them.
Home Care and Home Health Care Compensation
Home health care agency compensation will vary depending upon the diagnosis of the patient. Private insurance companies typically implement set rates depending on the diagnosis. Medicaid programs will typically reimburse home health care businesses based on a set dollar amount per hour. Medicare reimbursement also varies based on the diagnosis of the patient, but coding is complex and based on a 60 day episode.
Non-medical home care agency compensation is dependent on whether or not the patient has a need for hands on non-medical home care services such as bathing and diaper changing, or simple hands off services such as running errands, cooking and cleaning. Compensation is usually private pay ranging from 16-22 dollars an hour on average.