A medical home is an approach to providing high-quality, comprehensive primary care. These small private centers, also called residential care centers or group homes, usually have 20 or fewer residents. Rooms can be private or shared. Residents receive personal care and meals, and staff are available 24 hours a day. Medical and nursing care is usually not provided at home.
In most cases, you must pay the costs of living in a nursing home and pension. Medicare doesn't cover these costs. Medicaid may offer partial coverage, depending on the state and if the person is eligible. If the elderly person has long-term care insurance, check their plan to see if it includes coverage for this type of facility. Home health care is a wide range of health care services that you can receive at home in the event of an illness or injury.
Home health care is often less expensive, more convenient, and as effective as the care you receive in a hospital or skilled nursing facility (SNF). Home health care consists of specialized and medically necessary services prescribed by a doctor for the treatment of an illness, injury, or medical condition. Some social workers also manage the patient's case, if the patient's medical condition is very complex and requires the coordination of many services. For example, retirement communities with ongoing care can also offer independent living and skilled nursing care.
If the elderly person has long-term care insurance, the policy may include some coverage for care in a nursing home. Nursing care may include the placement of wound dressings, ostomy, intravenous therapy, administration of medications, monitoring the patient's general health, pain management, and other types of health support. Home care nurses can also keep a diary for each patient, recording the details of the visit to ensure continuity of care and communication between the patient's family, caregivers and medical team. Home health care is available to any patient who needs it, but for Medicare to cover it, the patient must be considered homebound.
Medicare generally doesn't cover long stays in a nursing home, but it may pay for some related costs, such as medical services and medical supplies. A home visiting doctor is simply a doctor who performs medical visits at the patient's place of residence. At each visit, the home nurse will take the patient's vital signs, keep track of symptoms and other details of the patient's condition, and administer any necessary medications or treatments. The main benefit of home health care for the elderly is that it can be delivered directly to the patient's home, whether it's a private home, a foster home for adults, an assisted living or residential care facility, a memory care center, or a long-term nursing home. The benefits of Medicare home health care services will not change, and the pre-application review process should not delay your access to home health services.
The rest of your daily care will have to be provided by another caregiver, usually a family member or a paid caregiver. Medicaid, the Veterans Administration and some private insurance plans also pay all or part of the cost. To be covered by Medicare, your need for home health care must be short-term or intermittent (not continuous). The primary care medical home provides health care based on relationships and with an orientation toward the whole person.
The primary care medical home coordinates care across all elements of the overall health care system, including specialized care, hospitals, home health care, and community services and supports.
