Do you know the difference between Home Health Care and Personal Home Care? The services sound similar and there is a level of similarity in each service’s goal and offerings, making them even more difficult to distinguish. If you are searching for care for yourself or a loved one it’s important to be able to distinguish the difference. One of the easiest ways to differentiate the services is if the service is submitted for payment to Medicare or private insurance or must be paid out of pocket. Read on to learn more about Personal Home Care, Home Health Care, and what makes them different.
About Personal Home Care
The goal of personal home care is to keep patients safe at home. This is done primarily through assisting patients with activities of daily living (ADLs). Personal Home Care focuses on non-medical care for patients by certified nursing aides (CNA) and personal care aides (PCA). These two aides are similar with the former offering modest medical care, such as taking patient vitals and reporting status changes to a patient’s medical team.
With Personal Home Care’s focus on ADLs, common tasks include helping patients bathe, use the bathroom, and assist with dressing and personal grooming. Personal Home Care also typically offers light housework including cleaning, laundry, and meal preparation. In some cases, aides may provide transportation, medication reminders, and general companionship to patients who might otherwise be at home alone most of the time.
Due to the de-emphasis of medical care in Personal Home Care services there is no eligibility criteria for the services. Generally, Personal Home Care is cash pay only and not covered by a patient’s insurance.
Do You Need Personal Home Care?
If you or your loved one does not have immediate medical issues that need to be monitored, but would benefit from companionship and assistance with ADLs around the home Personal Home Care may be the right choice, so long as you are able to pay the out-of-pocket cost.
What Home Health Care and Personal Home Care Have in Common
Home Health Care and Personal Home Care often overlap in services, causing confusion. For example, both services provide care in the patient’s home or residential facility. Home Health Care and Personal Home Care aim to keep patients safe and comfortable. They aim to provide a service that prolongs patient independence and prevents a patient transitioning to a higher level of care whenever possible. Both services are typically less expensive than facilities that offer the aforementioned higher level care.
Home Health Care and Personal Home Care services are tailored to the needs of the patient. Both services typically offer help with personal care, ADLs, and medication reminders.
How Home Health Care is Different
Home Health Care offers many of the same services as Personal Home Care with the addition of specialized medical care for patients. The goal of Home Health Care is also similar, keep patients healthy and independent. Home Health Care provides medical care in patient homes and can be used for patients in assisted living or group home living situations. Many patients that qualify use home health care to treat a chronic health condition or to help them recover from an acute illness, injury, or surgery. The level of care a patient receives is customized by their treatment needs. Home Health Care often utilizes many types of medical care to treat patients.
Provista Home Health Care Services
- Medical Nursing
- Physical Therapy
- Speech Therapy
- Occupational Therapy
- Medical Social Work
- Patient and Caregiver Education
- Telemedicine and Telemonitoring
- Wound Care
- Assistance with ADLs
Because Home Health Care is often covered by private insurance or Medicare, a patient must prove medical necessity. Home Health Care companies are regulated by state and federal laws and often certified by Medicare/Medicaid. Patients seeking Medicare or private insurance payment for their Home Health Care must be referred by their doctor.
If you or your loved one believe Home Health Care would be a benefit you can direct your doctor to our Refer a Patient page. Provista Healthcare can help your doctor fill out the patient referral and get you started with Provista Home Health.
Home Health Care especially helps patients who do not have a 24/7 care through family and friends. Many patients transition to Home Health Care as a step down in care after a stay in a hospital, rehabilitation center, or skilled nursing facility. Home Health Care provides a structured level of medical care at home that reduces the chance of re-hospitalization from improper or lapsed medical care. Provista Home Healthcare has a less than 2% re-hospitalization rate for patients.
Do You Need Home Health Care?
Do you or someone your love need medical care in addition to help with ADLs? If so, Home Health Care may be the right choice. Even if a patient receives regular care from a loved one, Home Health Care can help alleviate family and friends suffering from caretaker fatigue. Home Health Care is a smart medical care option for patients with chronic conditions and those recovering from illness, injury, or surgery who need some extra medical care assistance at home.
Read more about Caretaker Fatigue and Home Health Care.
Provista Home Healthcare
Provista Home Healthcare offers Home Health Care services to Texans in Austin, DFW, Houston, Midland/Odessa, and San Antonio. We are accredited through the Accreditation Commission for Health Care, offer bilingual staff, and a treatment coordination program with all our patient’s treatment team.
Learn More about Provista Home Healthcare Services
