{"id":8297,"date":"2011-04-25T05:56:48","date_gmt":"2011-04-25T12:56:48","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.gasdetection.com\/?page_id=8297"},"modified":"2018-03-20T15:51:14","modified_gmt":"2018-03-20T22:51:14","slug":"theres-place-like-home-health-care","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/www.gasdetection.com\/interscan-in-the-news\/magazine-articles\/theres-place-like-home-health-care\/","title":{"rendered":"There’s No Place Like Home…For Health Care"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"Health<\/a><\/p>\n

April 25, 2011<\/p>\n

There’s No Place Like Home…For Health Care<\/p>\n\"Home\n

By\u00a0 Michael D. Shaw<\/p>\n

In February, 2009, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) reported that there are 10,581 Medicare Certified Home Health Agencies in the United States. For those keeping score, Texas leads the way with 2,190 followed by Florida at 1,236.<\/p>\n

If hospice care and facilities that are not certified by Medicare are also included, the National Association for Home Care & Hospice notes that:<\/p>\n

Approximately 12 million individuals currently receive care from more than 33,000 providers (for causes including acute illness, long-term health conditions, permanent disability, or terminal illness). In 2009, annual expenditures for home health care were projected to be $72.2 billion.<\/p>\n

Home care is a cost-effective service for individuals recuperating from a hospital stay and for those who, because of a functional or cognitive disability, are unable to take care of themselves.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

As you might expect, there are a staggering number of regulations (federal, state, and local) that apply to home care providers. One benefit of the almost incomprehensible bureaucratization is that there are plenty of available resources for those who are contemplating home care.<\/p>\n

A good place to start is the publication “There’s No Place Like Home\u2014For Growing Old<\/a>“, from the National Institute on Aging.<\/p>\n

Two more good resources are the Eldercare locator<\/a> and National Council on Seniors Drug & Alcohol Rehab<\/a>.<\/p>\n

While cost-effectiveness is certainly not the only parameter to consider in patient care, it is a topic of great concern. Compiled government data compared hospital, skilled nursing facility, and home health Medicare (per day or per visit) charges for the period 2005-2009. In 2009, the figures were $6200, $622, and $135, respectively. Moreover, the increase in hospital charges over the time period was 24%, compared to only 8% for home care.<\/p>\n

Arguably, when compared to other aspects of health care, the home providers are under the greatest scrutiny regarding matters of quality control and reporting of outcomes. Central to quality health care is diligent record-keeping\u2014and this precept applies even more so to patients outside of conventional clinical settings.<\/p>\n

Such record-keeping is essential for at least these reasons…<\/p>\n