Certified Home Health vs. Home Health Care
As we set out to educate individuals on the benefits of home health care, we want to take the opportunity to explain our Certified Home Health services and offer examples of how our unique stay-at-home solutions best serve individuals and their families.
According to Medicare, “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, more convenient, and just as effective as care you get in a hospital or skilled nursing facility (SNF).”
Constellation’s home health care solutions fall into four categories:
- Certified Home Health
- Palliative Home Health
- Hospice
- Personal Care
Home health care skilled professionals coordinate with doctors to create a personalized plan that suits individuals where they are most comfortable—at home. Many treatments that once needed to take place at a hospital are now available at home, which we believe leads to better customer experiences.
Certified Home Health is a specific type of home health that assists with rehabilitation after illness, injury, or surgery. It can include a wide range of therapeutic and clinical services designed to speed recovery and instruct on long-term conditions.
At Constellation, “Certified Home Health” is designed to be a full continuum of care that meets the needs of individuals from wherever they call home. Our goal is to maximize independence and reduce the need for return trips to the hospital. We also collaborate with community providers when our team needs additional support to ensure that all individuals and their families have complete access to the care needed to safely stay home.
Our services include:
- Skilled nursing care
- Speech, physical, and occupational therapists
- Medical social workers
- Home health aides
- Remote patient monitoring & communications
In addition, we take our at-home services and adapt them for specialized needs like cardiac recovery, respiratory care (COPD / pneumonia / asthma), total joint replacement, and in-home balance and strength therapy to combat injury from falls.
In many cases, our certified home care team works with other service lines like personal care, palliative and hospice to coordinate the highest quality of care. As part of our Complete Care at Home (CCAH) approach, we are centered on delivering a comprehensive stay-at-home solution for home health care services. This approach has been particularly effective in offering safe, quality care even amid COVID-19, as we deliver personnel, tools, and technologies that align with CDC safety guidelines.
Until then, we want to “spotlight” a few examples of how our Certified Home Health programming is utilizing technology and personalized care to deliver the best in-home solutions.
Example #1—Virtual visits to support traumatic injury during COVID-19
In February, an individual fell in his home, resulting in a traumatic head injury, skull fracture, and broken leg. Constellation was engaged by the individual’s hospital provider to deliver in-home care. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the individual and his family requested minimal visits. From speech to occupational therapy, Constellation managed 12 telehealth visits with our network of registered nurses, physical therapists, occupational therapists, and speech therapists. Every visit included an assessment of vital signs and symptoms, COVID-19 screening questions, and a discussion of the importance of self-monitoring. In April, he was discharged successfully.
Example #2—Using technology and continued monitoring to evolve care
An individual was admitted to Constellation’s in-home services for a deep wound and pain management. An in-person assessment was conducted by a registered nurse and occupational therapist. Over the next several weeks, Constellation provided services from a team of professional home health care workers. Through telehealth services including virtual visits, we are able to offer an advanced level of care by connecting our team with nurse practitioners who oversee home care. Through the course of treatment, the nurse practitioner—via a face-to-face telehealth visit with the individual and caregivers at home—identified that the individual was experiencing an increase in pain, weight loss, and advanced dementia with hallucinations, and that the caregivers were becoming overwhelmed with caring for their family member. The nurse practitioner began conversations with the family about available palliative/hospice services. The individual was successfully transitioned to hospice care with Constellation where he remained until his passing.
Example #3—Achieving goals during COVID-19 recovery
An individual was diagnosed with COVID-19 at the end of March. She spent 12 days on a ventilator at the hospital. Upon her return home, she was extremely weak and required total assistance. She was unable to stand or walk. She had to sleep downstairs in a hospital bed. Six weeks later, with the help of Constellation’s physical therapist and registered nurse, she was using a cane to walk around her home, get her mail, and walk upstairs to her bedroom. She successfully achieved her goal of being back in her own bedroom—and out of her downstairs hospital bed—when her 11 grandkids visited in July. She is very thankful to the Constellation team for getting her back on her feet.
Through these examples, we aim to illustrate how a dedicated team of skilled professionals paired with resources like virtual visits and constant monitoring can benefit all our customers. We tailor our approach for each individual and take pride in knowing that our personalized, compassionate care is making a difference.
Learn more about our Certified Home Health offerings by clicking here or contact us with questions regarding in-home care solutions for your needs.
