Home Care

Differentiate Home Care From Hospice Care

Differentiate Home Care From Hospice Care

Hospice care is the healthcare provider services offered to patients suffering from terminal illnesses but in the home setting. It is essential for patients with critical health conditions who require keen and continuous monitoring from trained medical personnel but does not want to be in a hospital setting.  It involves taking care of a patient with a disease that makes six months of treatment or less.

On the other hand, home care is health services brought to patients who require health care at home through their last stages of recovery from a disease. The attention is provided by home health agencies who deliver health services to patients homes depending on the type of care demanded by the patient. Care provides in-home care does not require a lot of professionalism since the risk factor of the illness is low compared to hospice care.

Patients are receiving hospice care receives unlimited visits from medical practitioners for six months or longer, unlike home care where the targeted of the care services determine the length of the health services. Before the beginning of home care, a time limit has to be set so that the medical procedure implemented fits within the time limit while at the same time improving the health condition of the patient.

In hospice care, recertification to continue receiving the treatment is done if the patient surpasses the six months prognosis without getting better. It is not the same case with home care where the patients are recertified after every sixty days period of healthcare provision. Certification is essential for patients to continue receiving health benefits in both hospice and home care.

When symptoms of the disease cannot be controlled at home and require hospital settings to help research on the findings, hospice care can be shifted to a hospital. A patient under hospice care can be taken to a medical practice for stabilisation and then returned home when the symptoms are under proper control. It is not the case with home care where the healthcare providers do not accompany their patients when they need health care attention only offered in hospital settings.