WHO PROVIDES HOME CARE?

Home care services are usually provided by home care organizations but may also be obtained from registries and independent providers. Home care organizations include home health agencies; hospices; homemaker and home care aide (HCA) agencies; staffing and private-duty agencies; and companies specializing in medical equipment and supplies, pharmaceuticals, and drug infusion therapy. Several types of home care organizations may merge to provide a wide variety of services through an integrated system.

Home care services generally are available 24 hours a day, seven days a week. Depending on the patient’s needs, an individual or a team of specialist on a part-time, intermittent, hourly, or shift basis may provide these services. Following are descriptions of the various types of home care providers.

  • Home Health Agencies
  • Homemaker and Home Care Aide Agencies
  • Staffing and Private-duty Agencies
  • Pharmaceutical and Infusion Therapy Companies
  • Durable Medical Equipment and supply Dealers
  • Registries
  • Independent Providers



Home Health Agencies

The term “home health agency” often indicates that a home care provider is Medicare certified. A Medicare-certified agency has met federal minimum requirements for patient care and management and therefore can provide Medicare and Medicaid home health services. Individuals requiring skilled home care services usually receive their care from a home health agency. Due to regulatory requirements, services provided by these agencies are highly supervised and controlled. Some agencies deliver a variety of home care services through physicians, nurses, the rapists, social workers, homemakers and HCA’s, durable medical equipment and supply dealers, and volunteers. Other home health agencies limit their services to nursing and one or two other specialties. For cases in which an individual requires care from more than one specialist, home health agencies coordinate a care giving team to administer services that are comprehensive and efficient. Personnel are assigned according to the needs of each patient. Home health agencies recruit and supervise their personnel; as a result, they assume liability for all care.