Know the Differences in Home Health Care

There are many different words when you are dealing with home health care.

1. Home health visits,

2. home health aide,

3. nursing services,

4. private duty nursing, and

5. personal care services

are some we are going to look deeper into.

If you have Florida Medicaid and a child under the age of 21 you can receive some of these services paid for by Medicaid and not have to be on a Medicaid waiver.

1. Home health services are a wide range of health and social services delivered in the home to treat an illness, injury, or disability. Home Health visits are provided by Home Health Aides, Registered Nurses (RN), or Licensed Practical Nurses (LPN).

2. Home Health Aide services are provided through the Home Health agency by persons who have had specialized training but are not licensed, nurses. They are allowed to do activities that do not require a licensed nurse to do. Here are some types of help that are provided:

• colostomy bag change,

• wheelchair to bed,

• a bed to shower or some other type of surface,

• helping look at a bandage for sores or a cut,

• helping you do physical therapy,

• help you prepare or measure a special diet,

• help you brush your teeth if you cannot do so,

• help keep your skin in good condition by taking baths, and

• help you take medications.

Home health can come to your home or other places in the community up to four times a day.

3. Nursing services are services a doctor says you need but the state says a someone trained has to administer. Some of the services they offer are:

• injections of medications,

• help with putting in catheters,

• caring for a deep sore to make sure it doesn’t get infected,

• helping care for a tracheotomy or a ventilator, and

• help to feed through a gastronomy tube if your caregiver cannot.

Nurses can come up to four times a day.

4. Private duty nursing is a skilled nursing service that provides licensed nurse for several hours a day. The nurse can come to your home or into the community. This is to monitor the effects of treatments and you must have severe medical problems. Some children under 21 who have medically complex conditions go to a program during the day called Pediatric Prescribed Extended Care or PPEC. Even if a child is getting services during the day at a PPEC, you may be able to get Private Duty Nursing during the evening if you need it. You can get the nurse to come to school only if your doctor approves it, the school cannot provide that level of nursing care at that time, and receiving that type of care will allow the child to go to school.

5. Personal care services provide the same type of services as a home health aide but do not require a nurse to do them. A personal care attendant can help with

• eating,

• bathing,

• dressing,

• going to the bathroom,

• transferring to and from a wheelchair,

• laundry,

• grocery shopping,

• bill paying,

• light housework,

• setting up medical appointments, and

• managing medication and money are just a few.

Personal care attendants can be there for several hours a day and be continuous.

http://www.fddc.org/sites/default/files/Accessing%20Home%20Health%20Care_0.pdf