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FAQs --
Home Care Agencies
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Frequently Asked Questions:
Home Care Agencies
Q: What
is the difference between a Certified
Home Health Care Agency (CHHA) and a
Licensed Homecare Agency?
A:
A Certified Home Health Care Agency,
whose services are primarily paid for by
Medicare and/or private health
insurance, requires the patient to have
an acute skilled need (such as nursing,
physical therapy, speech therapy,
teaching, IV therapy, wound care, etc.)
and to be homebound, which then will
also allow for aide services while the
skilled service is in place. Once the
skilled needs become chronic, CHHA
services are discontinued. CHHAs do not
provide aide service for custodial care
or housekeeping/errands only. The
Delaware
County Health Department and
the
Visiting
Nurses Association of Western New York
are both authorized as CHHAs. A Licensed
Homecare Agency, whose services are paid
by Medicaid, private health insurance,
private pay or other funding sources,
provides aid service to assist with
activities of daily living, along with
nursing supervision. These facilities
may also offer nursing, therapies, and
other similar skilled services if
available and authorized by the insurer.
Aide service can be home health aide,
such as monitoring vital signs; personal
care aide, which includes personal
hygiene and mobility; and
housekeeping/chore service for light
housework, laundry, shopping, meal
preparation, etc. At Home Care,
Robynwood Home Care Agency, and
Family Home Care.
Q:
Where and for how long is home care
provided?
A:
Home care is provided in the patient's
home, although aides can sit with
patients in a nursing home or hospital
to attend to their needs, keep them
company, and offer additional support.
Care is available from a one-hour visit
up to 24 hours a day, depending on the
patient's individual needs, employee
availability and ability of funding
source to pay for needed services.
Q: If I
live a distance away and my elder loved
one lives alone, can they receive home
care services?
A:
Homecare agencies work with many
families who live out of town and assist
them in arranging care for their elder
loved ones. Homecare agencies will
provide aide service in home situations
that are self directing where the
patient can be ensured safety in the
home and where there are adequate
support systems to work along with the
homecare agency.
Q: How
does the Long Term Care Home Health
Program differ from other home care
services?
A:
This program, provided by the
Delaware
County Health Department is
also sometimes called the "Nursing Home
Without Walls" Program which basically
can provide all of the services of a
nursing home in the patient's home.
Primarily paid through Medicaid, the
patient must have a skilled need and
services provided must fit within a
monthly predetermined budget that is
less than the cost of maintaining such
an individual in a nursing home. If the
patient does not have Medicaid, they can
apply for it through the
Delaware County Dept. of Social Services if financially eligible.
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