Home Health Care Agencies (HCAs) are designed to help home health care agencies and physicians in making the right decisions about patient care. The HCA is the main intermediary between a home health care agency and a physician. It holds information about various medical conditions and treatments for a patient, and it also has contact details of doctors, nurses, and other health care staff that work in the particular agency. In order to get an application started, the patient must contact the home health care agency or the physician’s clinic. Alternatively, the patient can apply online.
Once the application is received, it will be reviewed by the home health care agency. Based on its findings, the packet will be provided to the patient. At this point, it is important to note that the patient may want to see another physician or to change doctors. If that is the case, he/she should mention this to the doctor providing care for him/her.
After the review, if the application is approved, the patient will receive start of care admission packets for home health care agencies. He/she should read the contents carefully and sign the document. It is advisable to read the contents before signing as a way of avoiding any misunderstanding later. The patient should understand the contents of the packet completely. This will avoid any misunderstandings regarding the care of his/her condition.
Home Health Care Agencies include detailed information about the patient. For instance, his current age, height, weight, and personal history are included in the packet. The doctor will also need to know about the family background, his educational qualifications, work history, and whether he/she is married or divorced. The patient will be advised to return to the doctor at least once every three months, and to ask for his/her latest examination schedule. In addition, if a new health condition develops during the period of the patient’s stay in the hospital, the patient should immediately inform his/her physician.
Once all documentation has been submitted, the packet is returned to the home health care agency for review. The next step is to evaluate the contents of the packet. If anything is unclear to the staff, there should be questions raised. In most cases, a second opinion is usually offered.
Home Health Care Agencies are usually brief and do not go into too much detail. Most often, they are just basic information, such as a patient’s full name, address, contact details, doctor’s name and number, and even his/her insurance information. The insurance information is important because it will help the staff understand how much the patient will be paying. It will also give them an idea of how to plan their payouts once the patient has been admitted. Once you have been assigned a caretaker, it is important that you keep in contact with your physician so that he/she is aware of any significant developments.