Home health care is a wide range of health care services that can be given in your home for an illness or injury. Home health care is usually less expensive and more convenient. You can request HomeCare Maryland as your home care agency by name. Examples of skilled home health services include:

• Any significant change in a patient’s condition
• New medications or a significant change in medication – needs education on use or administration of medication
• New diagnosis or exacerbation of any disease process
• Need for specific medical procedures such as wound care, IV therapy, etc.
• Safety issues – home environment, medication and difficulty performing daily activities
• Fall risk
• After care following surgery

• Doctor’s orders are needed to start care. Once your doctor refers you for home health services, the home health agency will schedule an appointment and come to your home to talk to you about your needs and ask you some questions about your health, so an individualized Plan of Care can be developed for you.
• The home health agency staff will also talk to your doctor about your care and keep your doctor updated about your progress.
• It’s important that home health staff see you as often as the doctor ordered.

• Check what you’re eating and drinking.
• Check your blood pressure, temperature, heart rate, and breathing.
• Check that you’re taking your prescription and other drugs and any treatments correctly.
• Ask if you’re having pain.
• Understanding diseases and/or conditions
• Check your safety in the home.
• Teach you about your care so you can take care of yourself.
• Coordinate your care. This means they must communicate regularly with you, your doctor, and anyone else who gives you care.

• Homebound means you are unable to safely leave your home without the assistance of others and the aid of assistive devices (such as crutches, canes, walkers or wheelchairs), and that doing so would require considerable and taxing effort.
• All home care patients are required to be homebound
• You are allowed brief and infrequent absences from the home for some non-medical reasons, such as an occasional trip to the barber/beauty shop, to attend church, or for unique family events (like a wedding).

Medicare & Medicaid cover home health services for those patients who meet the program’s eligibility requirements and your doctor certifies that you need it. Most insurances cover home care services

Services

• Registered Nurse
• Licensed Practical Nurse
• Physical Therapist
• Physical Therapist Assistant
• Occupational Therapy
• Medical Social Worker
• Home Health Aides
• Speech-Language Pathologist
• Infusion Therapy (limited area)

Programs

• Congestive Heart Failure (CHF) Program
• Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD) Program
• Pain Management Program
• Diabetes Management Program
• Fall Prevention Program
• Wound Management
• Medication Management

• Amerigroup
• Blue Cross Blue Shield
• Cigna Health Spring (Bravo)
• Johns Hopkins Connections
• Medicare
• Medicaid
• University of Maryland Health Partner (Riverside Health)