Home Health Vs. Home Care

Every now and then we need a little extra help at home. Did you know that beatitudes Campus can help with that?

Here on our campus, we have two different services to assist with your needs. Beatitudes Home health and Beatitudes at Home are the two programs and there tends to be some confusion about which program offers what services. If you have been confused about the difference between Beatitudes Home health services and Beatitudes at Home services, I hope the remainder of this article will help clarify.

Home Health Agencies such as Beatitudes Home Health are licensed by the Arizona Department of Health Services which means this program has regulatory oversight. Also:

1. All patients must require skilled care which usually involves skilled nursing services and at least one of the following: physical therapy, occupational therapy and speech therapy. Medical social services or home health aide services also may be provided with one of the skilled services mentioned above.
2. Skilled nursing services include wound care, short-term medication administration including IVs, patient education, etc.
3. The skilled care services must be needed on an intermittent basis for a planned program of care over a specified period of time and ordered by a physician.
4. Clinical records must be maintained on all patients.
5. A physician is needed to follow the care, write orders for all care and treatments and conduct a face-to-face encounter with the patient to qualify.
6. On average, visits typically last about an hour. Please note it may vary based on need.
7. Currently Beatitudes Home Health is able to accept Medicare for Home Health services.
8. To qualify for Home Health services you must meet the definition of “home bound.” Homebound does not mean you must be confined to bed or a wheelchair, or even to your house, but rather, that you either require assistance (human and/ or a device) to leave home, or leaving poses a taxing effort to you.

For more information about Beatitudes Home Health or to schedule an in home consultation, please call (602) 544-5000.

home care Agencies such as Beatitudes at Home are not licensed by any government agency so instead of regulatory oversight, they are managed by policies and procedures based on standard operating practices of Home Care Agencies. Also:

1. Typically clients or families request home care services to allow the client to age in place longer.
2. Services available are non-medical in nature such as companion services, medication reminders, running errands, household maintenance and housekeeping services.
3. Physician orders are not required for services.
4. Visits are at the request of the client or family and minimum visits can range from 15 minutes to 24 hours a day. Typical visits range between 2 and 4 hours.
5. Paid for privately by the client. Services are not able to be billed to Medicare or other insurance since they are non-medical in nature.

For more information about Beatitudes at Home or to schedule an in home consultation, please call (602) 544-8527.

Author Info: Cheryl Knupp

Cheryl Knupp is the Senior VP of Health Services here at Beatitudes Campus. Learn more about Beatitudes