Assistive care is non-medical supportive care. The services provided by care staff can range from helping with personal care (e.g., some care providers may also provide limited assistance with medications). Assistive care providers may have different titles, such as personal care aides (PCA), home health care aides (HHA), and certified nursing aides (DINNER). While job responsibilities may be similar, there are differences between the three in terms of training requirements and scope of practice (i.e., personal care aides provide personal care in addition to other services, such as cleaning, running errands, preparing meals, and organizing transportation).
Unlike home health aides and certified nursing aides, personal care aides don't support the provision of health care. There are no federally mandated training requirements for personal care aides, although some states or employers may require personal care aides to complete a program of training. While no formal training is required to become a home health aide, home health aides who work for a Medicare-certified home health agency must be certified. To become certified, a home health assistant candidate must complete a minimum of 75 hours of formal training (including classroom classes, practical practices, and supervised experience in a health care setting) through a state-approved program and pass the state certification exam.
To maintain certification, the home health assistant must complete a minimum of 12 hours of continuing training (continuing education) each year. Home care aides who don't work for Medicare-certified home care agencies may only need to complete a hands-on training program provided by the employer. Enable JS and turn off any ad blockers. The most common form of home health care is some type of nursing care, depending on the person's needs.
Before you start getting home health care, the home health agency must tell you how much Medicare will pay. If you receive your Medicare benefits through a Medicare Advantage (Part C) plan or another Medicare health plan, check with your plan for more information about your home health care benefits. If your provider decides that you need home health care, they should provide you with a list of agencies that provide services in your area. Home care is a wide range of health care services that you can receive at home in the event of an illness or injury. If you receive services from a home health agency in Florida, Illinois, Ohio, North Carolina, or Texas, you may be affected by a Medicare demonstration program.
Home health care is often less expensive, more convenient, and just as effective than care you receive at a hospital or skilled nursing facility (SNF). A healthcare provider (such as a skilled nurse) must evaluate you face-to-face before certifying that you need home health services. As part of this demonstration, your home health agency can submit to Medicare a request for a review prior to the request for coverage of home health services. In most cases, if it's part-time or intermittent, you may be able to receive skilled nursing and home health care services for up to 8 hours a day (combined), for up to 28 hours a week.
This helps you and the home health agency to know early in the process if Medicare is likely to cover services. A healthcare provider must order your care and a Medicare-certified home health agency must provide it. Nursing care may include placing wound dressings, ostomy, intravenous therapy, administering medications, monitoring the patient's general health, managing pain and other types of health support.
