Questions families ask us

Home health care agencies provide skilled in-home services. At Family Care, we provide skilled nursing, physical therapy, occupational therapy, speech therapy, and medical social work. This includes nutritional evaluation, diabetes management, post-op care, medication teaching, IV therapies, community resource coordination, and restorative services. We specialize in cardiopulmonary disease management and non-healing wound care.

Several of our locations also provide hospice care in the comfort of patients’ homes, including palliative care and bereavement services.

Some agencies provide non-skilled services, like home health aid or companionship. Family Care provides home health aid, which includes services like grooming, bathing, cleaning, and meal preparation.

If you are eligible for Medicare-covered home health care, Medicare will fully cover all services. Eligibility is determined during the first patient visit, when an agency staff member assesses your homebound status.

Although Medicare coverage is the most common method of payment, some patients elect to pay out of pocket, or add a private insurance plan.

As long as you meet Medicare’s definition of “homebound,” you can qualify for home health services indefinitely. Every 60 days, one of our clinicians will reevaluate your need for care. At that time, you will either be discharged, or remain in the care of the agency.

Even if Medicare no longer covers your home health services, you can opt to stay with the agency via private insurance or self-pay.

Anyone can request home health care. Many of our patients come to us by referral — if you’ve recently been discharged from a hospital, assisted living facility, or rehabilitation facility, you may receive a referral from the discharging physician. Some of our patients or their family members contact us directly after a change in health.

Once we know you’re looking for home health services, one of our office employees will call you to complete a brief intake form. They will ask about your living situation, your emergency contacts, your insurance, and your medical information.

When intake is complete, we schedule your first in-person visit. One of our clinicians comes to your home for a detailed first assessment, and together you decide what services you need and make a plan for future visits.

The simple answer is: as much as you’d like. We believe independence is an important goal for our patients, which is why we provide teaching on how to manage your health.

When you first become our patient, we ask a lot of questions about what you hope to gain from your care. Often a clinician’s goals are different from what matters to you. We make it a priority to listen to what you want from your treatment.

If you have a caregiver or involved family member, we can include them in our treatment teaching.

These things happen. If you are unable to keep an appointment, we appreciate as much notice as possible — it helps us schedule our staff effectively.

If something comes up without warning, there’s no need to worry. We will work with you to reschedule the visit for a different day.

Many of our clinicians are bilingual. If we do not have a staff member who can communicate with you, we can arrange to visit when a bilingual family member or friend can be present. Alternatively, one of our medical social workers may be able to connect you with a translator in the community.

We take problems with patient care very seriously. We encourage you to call your Family Care office if you have any concerns about the behavior of our clinicians. We can work with you to remedy the situation, change your plan of care, or assign a different clinician if necessary.

Over the last decade, the “aging in place” movement has changed people’s goals for their senior years. More and more people want to stay in their homes as they age, rather than moving to an assisted living facility. A home health agency makes this possible by providing skilled care that would otherwise not be available in the home.

This allows patients to age in familiar surroundings, where they feel comfortable and safe. Many of our staff started their careers in hospitals or assisted living facilities, and frequently comment on how much more they get to know our patients in the home setting.

If your loved one transitions to Family Care’s hospice program, many of the same clinicians will be part of their care. Having familiar faces in the home can be comforting during this time.

If you are listed as a caregiver or emergency contact, you may be contacted in the event of a health emergency or a change to the treatment plan. We find it helpful if a patient’s caregiver is present during some visits, so they can help carry out the care plan.

Our patients have a legal right to privacy regarding their medical records. This means we may be unable to share elements of your relative’s health information with you — unless the patient gives us permission, or you have established a legal right to be part of their medical decision-making.

Bringing in outside help can be a difficult decision, and it can be hard for seniors to acknowledge that they can no longer live independently. If this is a difficult discussion for your family, we recommend talking it through with your family’s doctor — sometimes it’s easier to hear this advice from a third party.

Ultimately, a home health agency cannot force a patient to accept services if they are of sound mind. If you believe your relative is no longer able to decide on their own, there are legal avenues to gain control of those decisions, including medical power of attorney, guardianship, and conservatorship. An elder law attorney can help you determine if one of these is right for you.

We help long-distance caregivers all the time — often an out-of-state family member is the one who initially requests care for their relative. We communicate regularly with them about the patient’s treatment plan and progress.

The majority of our patients qualify for Medicare coverage. We specialize in cardiopulmonary disease management and non-healing wounds, as well as physical therapy, occupational therapy, speech therapy, medical social work, home health aid, and hospice.

We frequently accept patients being discharged from hospitals, rehabilitation centers, and assisted living facilities. We also accept referrals from primary care providers.

We would love to hear from you. Call the Family Care office nearest your patient directly — office numbers are listed on each location page — or send us a message through our contact form and we will get back to you as soon as possible.