Frequently Asked Questions For Home Care

Home healthcare is care provided to patients in their homes. It is generally believed that patients prefer being at home and recovering better. Sometimes, home care allows patients to leave the hospital sooner or bypass nursing home stays.

People are often amazed at the number of services that can be performed in the home, including nurses, nursing assistants, physical, speech, and occupational therapists, social workers, certified home health aides, and personal care attendants. Services can be by the hour or as live-in, depending on the situation.

Depending on the medical condition, home healthcare is sometimes covered by Medicare, Medicaid, and private insurance. Care that is paid privately may be covered by long-term care insurance. If you don’t meet the admitting criteria or opt for a service not covered by a third party, you may pay “out of pocket” for services. Please contact us with questions regarding coverage or pricing.

For some reimbursed medical services, a doctor’s order is required before sending nurses or therapists to your home. In addition, most insurance plans will not authorize home healthcare without a physician’s prescription. However, paying for services privately or “out of pocket" is directed by the patient’s choice, so no prescription is required.

If you have Medicare, you can work with any certified home health agency by law. And the same is true for services paid privately “out of pocket.” You can elect to change agencies anytime if you are unsatisfied with the staff or quality of care you receive. If you have private insurance, you may be restricted in your choice of agencies based on your particular plan.

Sometimes called “Private Pay,” the care generally refers to non-medical in-home care. Services include personal care and assistance with activities of daily living (e.g., getting in and out of bed, walking, bathing, toileting, dressing), housekeeping, meal preparation, medication reminders, companionship, and errands.

We staff caregivers for at least 4 hours per visit up to 24-hour live-in service. However, please call us to discuss your particular situation.

We offer Extended Care services to adult and pediatric patients who require nursing care up to 24 hours a day due to ventilator dependency or a debilitating illness. This service differs from private pay because the care needed requires state-licensed nurses.

We can provide service in the following Arkansas counties:

Benton County, Carroll County, Clark County, Conway County, Dallas County, Faulkner County, Garland County, Grant County, Hot Springs County, Lonoke County, Montgomery County, Perry County, Pike County, Pope County, Pulaski County, Saline County, Scott County, Yell County, Washington County

A homemaker does light cleaning (i.e., sweeping and vacuuming floors, cleaning the bathroom, dusting, etc.), does laundry, does light meal preparation, runs errands, etc. The homemaker cannot wash windows or do heavy cleaning. A homemaker cannot do certain personal tasks (washing your hair, ironing clothes, sewing, etc.) or any medically-related tasks (giving injections, giving medications, taking pulses, etc.)

Each of these roles has a different degree of training. A homemaker is trained to do light housecleaning. A personal care assistant is trained to provide hands-on personal care, such as bathing, dressing, and housework. A home health aide is trained to assist clients in transfers (moving from a bed to a chair, for example). Home health aides can also take someone’s pulse or temperature and help with medications, provide hands-on personal care, and perform household chores. A patient receives care from one or more of the above care providers depending on his or her needs.

Not at all. Home care is a great supplement to the care provided by family or loved ones. Our skilled medical professionals will partner with your primary caregiver—a friend or family member—to teach proper techniques when we are not there.

By bringing rehabilitation and high-tech care to your doorstep, we can give your primary caregiver a much-needed break to run errands, relax, and recharge. Many of our patients do live alone. But our specialists are never far from you. That’s because many of our staff members live in the same neighborhoods as their patients. In addition, we schedule home visits when they are convenient for you or your family.

Both provide care in the home, but they serve different needs. Home care is for:

• People who have left the hospital but still need medical care
• Those who can avoid hospital stays with in-home help
• Those who need their medical conditions checked often
• Those who need help learning to cope with a recently diagnosed medical condition
• Hospice is specifically designed for people facing the last stages of a life-limiting illness.

Yes. Care IV provides home care to those who are often the most in need—children and mothers. We understand how important the health and well-being of your child are to you, so our experienced and dedicated staff will work with you to determine the most comfortable and compassionate methods to use in treating your child. Our at-home services for children may include the following:

• Post-hospitalization or post-accident treatment
• Short-term treatment for chronic illnesses, such as asthma, cancer, and diabetes
• Physical, speech, and occupational therapy
• Long-term extended care for ventilator-dependent children

Our specialized at-home services for expectant and new mothers help relieve the stress of difficult pregnancies and motherhood transitions. We will assist with the following:

• Comprehensive care for cesarean-section wounds
• Complications such as premature contractions, diabetes, or hyperemesis

Try to determine the nature of their reluctance, and then work out a solution that provides a comfortable balance. You may consider trying services temporarily to see if it will work out.

By choosing the amount of care, you can better control your expenses.

Our aides and nurses are skilled with care techniques that are safe and easy to learn. Doing common tasks with safer methods ensures you stay independent for a long time.

All of our clients are supervised by experienced Registered Nurses and will visit once per month. The operations staff is always available for consultations about any concern.

Patients receiving home health aide services under Medicare are visited at least every 2 weeks to assess the patient’s satisfaction with the care provided by HHA. At least once in a 60-day episode, the RN is in the home at the same time as the HHA to assess his/her ability to safely and effectively meet the client's needs.

An initial evaluation by a Registered Nurse is an important part of our service. The Registered Nurse’s advice may provide the answers you need to determine how much help will be needed.

We are very flexible, but scheduling is best done a week in advance. This allows us to provide the most efficient scheduling, but we can usually work with quick service needs.

Not always. Each staff member has his or her special chemistry with our clients, but we try to provide the most appropriately skilled staffing for our clients.

When patients and families start services with Care IV, we form a relationship that starts with a care plan. Whether the care is covered by Medicare or Medicaid or the patient pays privately, expectations are all discussed and agreed upon before starting services.

We can invoice according to the requirements of the payer. We can even bill insurance and care providers directly.

Our company is state certified, and the Department of Health restricts areas we can serve to specific counties or specific distances from a city. We cannot serve many areas, but state certification demonstrates our commitment to the highest level of service for our clients.

If you have a question that is unanswered from these frequently asked questions, please call or email us, and we will gladly answer you personally.