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Share this video with your patients: https://www.vnsny.org/video.
There are many cases in which expert home health care should be an integral part of your patients’ treatment and/or recovery process. In fact, research shows that hospitalized patients who don’t receive home health care are twice as likely to be rehospitalized as those who do.1
But many patients don’t understand what home health care is, or what benefits it offers, or why you’ve prescribed it. To answer these questions, and to help you make sure they receive the care you’ve ordered, we’ve prepared this short video.
According to a provision in the Patient Protection Affordable Care Act, physicians wishing to order home health care services for patients covered by Medicare must schedule a face-to-face encounter with each patient. These visits must occur 90 days prior to, or within 30 days of the start of, a Medicare home health care episode, and each visit must also be documented.
VNSNY Referral Form
Use this form to make a referral for VNSNY home care. You can also use this form to document a face-to-face encounter between you and your patient related to their need for home care and medical qualifications as homebound. DOWNLOAD FORM >
If you answer yes to any of the following questions, your patient may be a candidate for home health care. VNSNY can help with a wide range of home health care solutions:
To further refine your assessment of patient needs, VNSNY Candidate Cards can help evaluate which patients are candidates for specific services and programs.
For Medicare and some commercial/managed care insurance patients, the patient must be homebound to receive home health care services.
A “homebound” patient is defined as unable to leave home without considerable and taxing effort and must meet Criteria 1 and Criteria 2 as outlined in the table below.
Keep in mind that patients who leave home infrequently for short durations or for health care may still be considered homebound. These situations may include (but are not limited to):
Criteria 1 | Criteria 2 |
Needing the aid of a supportive device due to illness or injury:
OR Having a condition where leaving home is medically contraindicated |
Normal inability to leave home and leaving home requires considerable and taxing effort:
|
1 Topaz M, Kang Y et al. Higher 30-Day and 60-Day Readmissions Among Patients Who Refuse Post Acute Care Services. Am J Manag Care. 2015 June; 21(6):424-433.
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