How to Determine Different Types of Home Care Policies and Procedures
If you ever have had a loved one who is in failing health, then you have had the discussion about Home Health Care.
Determining the type of care you need and what those policies and procedures will look like, whether you work in the Home Care industry or are getting it for a loved one is a tough process for all involved.
Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996 (HIPAA)
When dealing with anything medicinal, you have to remember HIPAA is a thing that needs to be taken carefully. HIPAA is a “Federal law passed in 1996 that ‘requires the creation of national standards to protect sensitive patient health information from being disclosed without the patient’s consent or knowledge.’”
There are three main rules of HIPAA:
- Administrative: Ensures the patient’s information is correct and only accessible by those who have the authority to do so.
- Physical Security: Ensure there’s a physical backup of information in case of a device loss. You also need to restrict access to areas where private information may be stored.
- Technical Security: This is for preventing security breaches. Encrypt your files internally and via e-mail, protect the network, and avoid phishing scams.
Along with HIPAA, make sure you follow all state and local laws in accordance with your compliance documentation provided by employers.
Types of Home Care
There are multiple types of Home Care and they all follow their own set of policies and procedures:
Home Care
This is the most common option when thinking of long-term care. This is when someone comes into the house on a daily basis or can even stay there. It is in the policy of most places to get an evaluation of what care the patient will need. The amount of care needed will determine the number of hours. It could mean you may only need a caregiver a couple of hours, a couple of days or 24/7. However, they must have their own living quarters and free time if they live in as a caregiver. You should consider getting someone untrained that will just help with house tasks. If you get a trained nurse, they most likely will have to complete a Home Health Aide certification course/program.
Hospice
Hospice is a private Home Care service. Many people associate a hospice with someone on their last few days. However, a hospice is defined as just having 24-hour care 7 days a week. Moreover, the difference between hospice and home care is that a hospice patient picks someone called a Primary Caregiver. This could be a family member or close friend. Additionally, they work with the company providing the service to create a plan. Part of many hospice services is the policy of making services. It includes bereavement counseling, support groups, or other methods to help a family deal with loss. Normally hospice does not exceed a six-month period since the patient’s life expectancy should not exceed 6 months. One positive aspect of hospice is that patients overwhelmingly say that it is a positive experience.
Respite Care
This care is used if you are the primary caregiver for your loved one. You should use Respite Care if you need a break to go do things such as handling chores without interruption. This can take the form of a friend or family member or a trained professional. Trained professionals can provide services such as light housekeeping and even non-emergency medical transportation.
What are the procedure for determining home care?
When it comes to making the decision if home care is needed or not, there are seven big steps that need to be taken into account to make the decision:
Determine if in-home care is actually needed
There are a few factors that go into this decision and this might be one of the hardest decisions to make. Some signs that your loved one will need in-home care are forgetting to turn off appliances, wandering, forgetting to eat, frequent falling to just name a few.
What type of care you will need
There are a few types of care such as respite, live-in care, and others that need to be taken into consideration when making decisions.
Whom to hire
You can google home care companies around you but making sure you hire the right one will be the most important decision next. The person who will be cared for should have input into who you hire to come into the home, there are a few options to consider.
Family caregivers
A friend or family member who will be paid but this option can take a toll on the person’s mental and physical health. Moreover, it can lead to a condition called caregiver burnout.
Hiring a caregiver directly
This is a decent option as you can pay the caregiver directly. You will, however, need to do your own background checks , references and this may become more of a headache than it is worth.
Hiring an agency
Hiring a good agency can help a ton with back-end stuff such as taxes or insurance. The agency will also be in charge of making sure their employees are fit to take care of your loved ones with the right training.
Prepare for anything
It is important to be prepared for whatever is going to be thrown at you. Your loved one is going to have good days and bad days. Things such as they may refuse care for the day. Their bad days are not always a reflection of the type of care they are getting.
Conclusion
When it comes to care for loved ones in home care, knowing some of the policies and procedures of different types of care will help you determine the right care you will need. There are many different Home Care Policy and Procedures PDF files out there for you to look into and get an understanding of what comes with each type of care.
If you are in need of having Home Care Policy and Procedures written, the professional writers at Essential Data can help you with those needs and wants.
Whether you need a team of consultants to produce a complete line of documentation or a single technical writer for a brief project, Essential Data’s Engagement Manager will lead the project from start to finish. At Essential Data Corporation, we guarantee the quality of our work. Contact us today to get started. (800) 221-0093 or sales@edc.us
Written by Dylan Friebel