By Elizabeth Hogue
Hospital discharge planners and case managers need to
know more about private
duty home care.
In order to be appropriate for home health or hospice services paid for by any payor, including the Medicare Program, patients must either be able to care for themselves or they must have a primary caregiver. Patients' family members or others may be willing to fulfill this role on a voluntary basis. If not, discharge planners/case managers should offer patients and/or their family members the option to pay privately for a primary caregiver who can meet patients' needs in between visits from professional staff from home health agencies and hospices. These types of services may be referred to by post-acute providers as private duty home care services.
The option to pay for private duty home care services should be offered to all patients who cannot care for themselves and who have no voluntary primary caregivers. Patients who can care for themselves or have voluntary primary caregivers may also wish to contract for additional assistance, so discharge planners/case managers should offer this option to all patients who may benefit from these services.
Read more...
| 
