Home Health Care.
Advancement in technologies now allow many people to be treated at home who just a few years ago would have been treated in an institution. Home health care includes treatment modalities, clinical and therapeutic services, domestic assistance and associated services, supplies, and equipment needed to treat illnesses, disabilities, or chronic conditions in the patient's home to yield appropriate medical outcomes and/or improve or maintain the quality of life. Home care includes acute, primary, preventive, rehabilitative, and long term care. The delivery of healthcare services to patients in their own homes is appreciated by many patients and their families. Many find the intimate loving atmosphere afforded by being home during periods of recovery preferable to institutions.
Value of Home Health Care.
Home healthcare keeps families together and prevents disruption by allowing the person needing care to stay at home to receive that care.
- Residential health care encourages individual decision making at the local and community level.
- Patients prefer receiving care in the security and comfort of their own homes versus institutional settings.
- Residential health care provides the patient with "quality of life" advantages over institutional care which results in more positive outcomes, preventing the need for more intensive care.
The Role of the Family.
As a family member, your participation and contribution to the care of your loved one is extremely valuable. Experts recognize the important role family members have in taking care of loved ones. The physiological and loving support can not be underestimated. Interesting too is the financial contributions of family caregivers. The National Family Caregivers Association estimates that the market value of unpaid caregiver services is over $190 billion a year. It is an estimate of what family caregivers would be paid at market rates for providing basic non-medical care giving services, four hours a day, seven days a week.
The Case for Home Health Care.
Trends in technology and advances in care, such as home infusion therapy, have enabled patients to receive appropriate and safe therapies in the home which were not possible a decade ago. Home care is cost effective. For example, compare the savings shown below:
|
Conditions |
Hospital Costs (per month) |
Home Care Cost (per month) |
Dollar Savings (per month) |
|
Ventilator dependent adults |
$21,570 |
$7,050 |
$14,520 |
|
Oxygen dependent adults |
$12,090 |
$5,250 |
$6,810 |
|
Oxygen dependent children |
$26,190 |
$330 |
$25,860 |
Home Care is Part of the Solution.
As Congress looks to reform the health care system and decides where to spend the money to do this, home care is a critical factor. Home health care is part of the solution to the health care cost problem, because it prevents more expensive stays in institutional settings. · When sick, patients should receive treatment and therapies at the lowest-cost medically appropriate site. Using home care, patients can live at home, be mobile and remain productive members of society. Residential health care has created jobs. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics Monthly Labor Review, home health care has created 345,000 jobs since 1988.
