Home Health

Our Home Health staff provides a number of services for you or your loved one in the comfort of home. We serve a 50-air-mile radius around our hospital in Monticello, which encompasses parts of 7 Southeast Arkansas counties. A Nurse is on call 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.

Skilled Nursing

RNs and LPNs are permitted to go into the patient’s home and provide nursing services such as: wound care, bathing, injections, IVs, performing venipunctures for blood analysis, educating patient and caregiver, and many other skilled services.

Therapy Services

Licensed physical, speech, or occupational therapists perform rehabilitative activities in the patient’s home. This permits the patient to realize his or her maximum functional potential.

Home Health Aides

Home Health Aides are skilled with the ability to take and record vital signs, assist with simple exercises as directed by nurses or therapists. The home health aide plays an important part in the comprehensive care of the home health patient.

Common Questions for New Patients

At some point you or someone you love may need home health care. Do you know how to select the agency that best meets your needs? Do you know your options?

What is Home Health Care? Home Health care is health care delivered in the patient’s home. Services may range from Skilled Nursing care following a hospital stay, rehabilitative services and or assistance with activities of daily living. Due to medical technological advances, what once was only cared for in a hospital now is safely and efficiently administered in the home setting. All Home Health care is ordered by your physician and can range from skilled care to bathing or housekeeping assistance.

Who provides Home Health services? Registered Nurses, Licensed Practical Nurses, Physical Therapists, Speech Therapists, Occupational Therapists, and Home Health Aides are trained to provide professional Home Health services.

What to consider when choosing a Home Health Agency: Make sure the home health agency has proper credentials. Is the agency licensed to provide the services you need? Is the agency committed to quality? Ask your friends and neighbors if they are familiar with the agency. How many years has the agency been in the community? What are the hours of operation and what happens if you need care after normal business hours or on week-ends, is someone on call? Is the agency bonded? Are criminal history background checks part of their hiring practices? Does the agency have adequate staff to care for your needs?

Who pays for Home Health services? Medicare will pay for Home Health services but certain criteria must be met. Most private insurance companies have provisions for Home Health care. Certain categories of Medicaid pay for Home Health services. Private pay is also accepted for services provided.

Keep in mind, the goal of a good Home Health Agency is to help each patient become as independent as possible and to enjoy a better quality of life.

What to Expect

Once your home health referral is received a nurse will contact you to set a date and time for an assessment/evaluation. Your insurance information will then be checked for eligibility. During this visit, you will have to answer a series of questions relating to your condition, medical history, medications, and knowledge of illness. It will be determined then if you meet the criteria for Home Health Services.

You must be homebound to receive Home Health Services. This means the patient is generally confined or medically restricted to his or her residence. However, patients can leave the home for absences that:

• Are infrequent in nature
• Are short in duration
• Require a taxing effort.

Examples of “infrequent/short in duration” absences.

• Attending a religious service
• An occasional trip to the barber or salon
• A walk around the block
• Family reunion
• Funeral
• A family celebration such as graduation

Examples of “taxing effort”

• Requires the assistance of another person to leave the home
• May require the use of a cane, walker or wheelchair
• Requires a high level of assistance in order to get into an automobile

Once admitted to Home Health Services, you can expect a nurse visit every 1-2 weeks, depending on your plan of care and physician orders. The nurse will assess you on every visit and educate you on medications, treatments, and symptoms to watch for and to be sure your care instructions are understood. The family/caregiver will also be educated on your medications, treatments, and symptoms to watch for. You will be given a calendar to determine when you can expect visits and our phone number to call if there are any questions or problems.

There is a nurse on call 24 hours a day,7 days a week to answer any questions or if any needs arise. Home Health is not an emergency service and when any emergencies arise, you should call 911 immediately. Examples of emergencies include respiratory distress, active bleeding, chest pain, mental status changes, or falls resulting in injury.