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Sometimes, when patients go home after staying in a hospital, nursing home, or rehabilitation center, they still need help and medical care. ClarityFirst Primary Care can take on these patients for home health care services. We can also provide in-home medical help for individuals suffering from a disability, medical condition that is hard to control, or a chronic illness.
ClarityFirst Primary Care has licensed health care professionals to check in on patients during regular home visits. We provide medical care, treatment, and therapy to help patients recover safely at home.
Types of In-Home Health Care Services
There are several types of in-home health care services that a physician may prescribe. For instance, the physician may order nursing care.
Nursing Care
Our nurse practitioners help the patient understand their medicines, keep them organized, teach patients how to keep bad symptoms from getting worse, and discuss healthier eating habits or movement routines. They may also demonstrate and teach how to change wound bandages, spot symptoms of infection, and conduct IV therapy at home. Since our nurse practitioners will not visit every day, these treatments are taught to patients and their loved ones to perform themselves.
Patients receiving home care services can also get help from a home health aide. Aides assist patients with personal care needs like bathing, grooming, and other activities of daily living, with visits generally lasting less than one hour a few days a week.
Rehabilitation Services
A physician may also order in-home rehabilitation services like physical or occupational therapy or speech and language pathology. Therapists work with each patient to create a personalized home exercise plan to build strength and improve mobility. They also perform home safety assessments and recommend ways to prevent falls and fall injuries. Additionally, speech and language pathologists help patients who struggle with speaking, thinking, swallowing, and solving problems, teaching them ways to overcome their challenges.
Primary Care Social Workers
ClarityFirst Primary Care also offers medical social workers. These professionals assess a patient’s ability to live safely and securely in their current environment and help find community support such as meals on wheels, adult daycare, or local resources for seniors and the disabled.
Home Care Guidelines
Now, let’s discuss some important guidelines that home care providers must follow to provide safe and effective care for our patients.
Ordering and Overseeing Home Care
First, home health care must be ordered by a physician or other approved primary care provider who is willing to oversee a patient’s ongoing home care treatment. We work closely with our physicians to keep them informed about the patient’s progress, updating their treatment plan and medications as needed according to the physician’s orders.
Home Care for Patients with Difficulty Leaving Home
Home care is specifically for patients who have a difficult time leaving home. For instance, patients may need help from another person or medical equipment like a walker or a wheelchair. Usually, home care patients are only able to leave home for physician appointments or grocery shopping. However, some insurance companies are not as strict with this requirement.
Duration and Frequency of Home Care
Home health care is not long-term. When home care services begin, we talk with the patient, caregiver, and members of the health care team to set goals for improvement. Once these goals are achieved, home care services typically come to an end, usually lasting four to eight weeks. Patients may then need to seek ongoing medical care at outpatient therapy centers or wound clinics.
Scheduling Home Visits
Home care is part-time and intermittent, with visits a few times a week, sometimes weekly or monthly, lasting around 30 to 45 minutes. The first visit, called the admission visit, can take up to two hours to review the patient’s health history and set a care plan.
Privacy and Communication
Protecting your privacy is crucial. Due to federal privacy regulations, health care companies must handle private health information with care, often needing specific permission from the patient to share information, even with close family members. Communication can be done via text for scheduling, but private information cannot be shared through this medium.
Recommended Home Health Care Provider in Wichita, KS
ClarityFirst Primary Care is a go-to provider in Wichita KS especially for those who are seeking quality, reliable, and convenient primary care.
We bring the physician to you instead of you going to the physician. You can do this either by scheduling an appointment for a home visit or a provider video call.
It is our commitment to build a long-term provider-patient relationship with you and we are focused on providing clarity of health information to give you confidence in your health decisions.
You deserve convenient and high-quality medical care, and we’re here to deliver it.