Home Care Frequently Asked Questions
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Frequently Asked Questions

  1. What kind of services does home care provide? Services include skilled nursing, infusion nursing, ostomy and wound care, physical therapy, occupational therapy, speech therapy, social workers and home health aides. All services provided by home care are ordered by your physician.

     
  2. What is home health care? Home health care allows patients to receive needed health care services, while surrounded by family and friends at home, reducing the time it takes to recover from illnesses, injuries or surgery, and shortening hospital stays. A nurse or a therapist will teach patients how to manage their illness through education and training so they may achieve the highest level of independence possible while remaining in their home.

     
  3. How do I qualify for home care? To qualify for home care you must have a physician’s order to provide care and the care provided must be skilled, and you must be homebound to qualify to receive our services in your home. If you use your Medicare Part B benefit, you would be utilizing only rehabilitative services, and you would not have to be homebound.

     
  4. Can you come everyday for a few hours? Skilled home care is to be intermittent care, which means we will provide the patient with skilled services such as nursing or therapy on a part-time basis for a specific period of time. If you need several hours of care, you mostly likely are looking for private duty care, which can be provided by Carondelet Care Resources.

     
  5. Can you come give me my medications 3x/day? We are unable to provide this type of assistance under skilled home care, but this type of assistance can be provided by private duty, which can be provided by Carondelet Care Resources.

     
  6. What is the definition of homebound? In order to be considered homebound, the patient's medical condition is such that his/her ability to leave home creates a considerable/taxing effort, and when they leave home, it is for infrequent or short time periods, i.e., to receive medical treatment.

     
  7. Who pays for home care? Traditional Medicare covers 100 percent of home care. Medicare HMO’s cover home health care in a variety of ways, depending on the plan you chose. Commercial Insurance companies pay for home care based on the kind of plan you chose. There are often co-pays or deductibles to meet under the HMO and Commercial Insurance plans.

     
  8. How long can I get home care? Medicare certifies each patient for an episode of care, which is 60 days. You can be recertified for an unlimited amount of episodes if you meet the criteria, however, your care only lasts as long as treatment is required. Most Commercial insurance plans have visit limits on how much care you can be provided in one year.

     
  9. What areas do you serve? Services are provided in the greater Kansas City area including Jackson, western Lafayette and Northern Cass counties in Missouri and Johnson and North Miami counties in Kansas.

     
  10. Can I pick any provider I choose? The patient always has the right to choose which provider they would like to handle their home care needs. However, be aware that under some commercial insurance plans, there are in network providers, and your benefits are better if you use a provider that is preferred (or in-network) by your particular insurance company.

     
  11. What insurance companies do you accept? See Insurance section. If you have questions regarding insurance, please contact our office. We will be happy to assist you.

     
  12. Do you provide background checks on your employees? We provide extensive background checks on each employee: Kansas Bureau of Investigation, Missouri Highway Patrol, private background check, driving checks, social security check, sexual predator check, Missouri Family Care Safety check and drug screenings.

     
  13. Are your employees covered by workers compensation insurance? Carondelet does have workers compensation insurance for all of its employees.

     
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Voice of the Patient

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