If you're considering the use of a home health care agency for the first time, you may find you have quite a few unanswered questions. The purpose of this part of our site is to help you find some of those answers. Feel free to browse, but if you don't see the information you need, please contact us. Who knows, we might end up adding your question to this site!
What is home health care?
When should we consider home health?
Isn't home health care expensive?
Who pays for these services?
Can our loved one really receive the care they need in the home?
Do we have to have assistance all the time? Or can we have the service only when we need it?
Who monitors the care given?
How is billing done and is it tax deductible?
What is home health care?
Home health care ranges greatly in it's definition and can cover a broad range of needs - both temporary and permanent. Often times our clients require only minimal assistance, a couple of hours each in the morning and evening to help with morning and evening activities.
Some clients require only a couple brief visits per week while others need someone available around the clock because of either physical or mental disabilities. Home health care and homemaker services can also cover needs ranging from help with meals and home maintenance to supervision as well as medication administration. If you think you or your loved ones can benefit from these services or if your family is simply unable to meet the needs of a loved one who wishes to remain in their own home, home health care may be your best choice. If you're in the eastern Ohio area, please contact us for a no-cost, private consultation in your home.
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When should we consider home health care?
 The time to consider home health care for you or a loved one is when help is needed with some or all of the normal activities of daily living, -such as hygiene, housekeeping, cooking, shopping or even walking steadily without assistance.
Other indications maybe that more help is needed than the family is able to offer or there is an increase in forgetfulness that may prove dangerous because of medications improperly taken or stove burners being left on.
Ideally, home health care is - like anything else - a step that is best planned for in advance as in the case of a home recovery from an elective surgery or when the caregiver in the family plans a vacation or simply needs relief. In reality, however, these instances are the exception rather than the rule. Fortunately, Care First Network has a working staff of more than 200 employees and is often able to fill your needs even with very short notice.
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Isn't home health care expensive?
Home health care costs differ greatly depending on the individual case, but are usually much lower than the long-term care facility alternative. Often the costs are buffered or completely covered by a third party such as insurance or special government programs designed to assist handicapped, disabled or injured people and their families.
What's more is that home health care is billed based on usage. That is to say that if you only use one hour of service, you're only billed for one hour unlike a long term facility which bills around the clock whether care is being given or not.
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Who pays for these services?
Payment varies from individual to individual. We find that while some of our clients cover their expenses privately, the vast majority qualify - either wholly or in part - for coverage either by their insurance policy or by state or federally funded programs such as PASSPORT, Veteran's Administration Benefits, or Waiver IV.
If this is all new to you and you aren't sure what your insurance policy covers or you don't know if you are a candidate for financial assistance with home heath care costs, please don't hesitate to contact us for help. With more than 10 years experience, our office and management staff will be happy to take the time to help you through the process of getting started.
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Can our loved one really receive the care they need in the home?
 The answer to this is emphatically yes. If you or your loved one are candidates for home health care, the level of care is usually higher than that of a long-term care solution. That is not to say that long-term care facilities are unable to give good care, but that the care given to an individual who is on a one-to-one basis can often times be more encompassing.
Simply by virtue of the one-to-one nature of home health care, clients find that in addition to having their physical needs safely met, companionship is also available.
Additionally, Care First Network is staffed 24 hours a day by a Registered Nurse (RN) who is specially trained to identify potential hazards and dangers specific to your loved one's health care situation.
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Do we have to have assistance all the time?
Or can we have the service only when we need it? Care First Network offers our services strictly on an as-needed basis -without contracts and without obligation.
While we're able to offer assistance 24 hours a day and 7 days per week, we can also be there only when you need us, whether it's with a set schedule of 1-2 hours while the caregiver in the family takes a much needed rest or even just an occasional time frame you need free from the responsibility of caregiving.
The advantage to you is that if the need for our help increases, we can fill those needs as they arise - and if your needs decrease, as in the case of recovery, we can be available only when you need us.
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Who monitors the care given?
 Although Care First Network is staffed 24 hours a day by a Registered Nurse (RN) who is specially trained to identify potential hazards and dangers specific to your loved one's health care situation, our assurance of quality care really begins much earlier.
By using skilled professionals in the assessment stage of getting you started, Care First Network can effectively plan a health care approach which is completely tailored to your needs. That, coupled with our thorough pre-employment screenings and discriminating hiring practices assures you your loved one only the best care.
And just as we monitor the care our staff provides, we in turn are monitored by the JCAHO and are fully accredited.
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How is billing done and is it tax deductible?
Care First Network typically bills all third-party payment directly to the insurance or program involved. Our privately paid clients are delivered a multi-copy invoice on weekly basis, providing a copy for the return payment and a copy for your own records.
Often times these payments are tax deducible as part of the provision for health care. To find out if your home health care payment is tax deductible, please contact us.
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