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Q. What is Home Health Care?
A. Home Health Care is skilled nursing care and certain other health care services that you get in your home for the treatment of an illness or injury.
Q. What is a 'Plan of Care'?
A. A nursing care plan (‘POC’) outlines the nursing care to be provided to you. It contains a set of actions that our nurses will implement to resolve nursing problems identified by your doctor’s assessment. The Plan of Care guides in the ongoing provision of nursing care and assists in determining if our care meets the prescribed goals.
Q. Do you accept HMO?
A. Currently, Palace at Home accepts only patients with Medicare coverage (‘Medicare Beneficiaries’).
Q. Do you accept private pay?
A. Please contact us to inquire about private pay services at Tel. 305.275.2533 (Miami-Dade), or 954.349.4855 (Broward County).
Q. Can I choose which home health agency will provide me with home health services under Medicare?
A. Medicare rules allow you to choose which home health agency will provide your services and you can switch agencies as many times as you wish.
Q. How can I verify if The Palace at Home is a Medicare certified home health agency and holds a valid license?
A. Call 1-800-MEDICARE (1-800-633-4227) 24 hours, 7 days a week, including some federal holidays. TTY/TDD users can call 1-877-486-2048. You may also verify license online at AHCA's website at: www.floridahealthfinder.gov.
Q. Does Palace at Home educate family members on the type of care being provided?
A. Yes. We educate families and patients on the type of services we provide. A major part of our ongoing goals, as outlined by your doctor's order, is educational in nature: we train and educate on the services we provide to each patient and train & educate on coping with the illness or injury, as the case necessitates.
Q. Who supervises the home health care plan?
A. Our License Practical Nurses (LPN’s) are being supervised by our Registered Nurses every 28 days. Our Home Health Aides are supervised every 14 days. Our therapists also provide supervisory visits every 14 days.
Q. Does the supervisor make regular visits to the home?
A. Yes, these ‘supervisory visits’ are actual visits to the patient’s home and include obtaining feedback from the patient and/or the patient’s caregiver or family members.
Q. Who can I call with questions or complaints?
A. For questions or to register a complaint about the quality of The Palace at Home health care services received, please call during working hours your assigned Clinical Nurse who oversees your care, Monday – Friday 9AM-5PM:
Q. What happens if a care provider does not show up as scheduled? What if I need to reschedule a visit?
A. We monitor our visits 24/7 and 365 days of the year. If for any reason any of our personnel is late or has not shown up, our 24/7 hotline will be able to resolve immediately such situations. For any late visit or no show, please call us immediatly.
Q. Will the agency be in regular contact with my doctor?
A. Yes, we maintain communications with your doctor as we report your progress. We follow up on any new or changed orders from your doctor.
Q. My Doctor gave me a Prescription for Physical Therapy treatment with Ultrasound and Electro-Stimulation. Can I receive these modalities at home?
A. Yes, our Physical Therapists are equipped with portable units to accommodate treatments at your home.
Q. My Family member needs Physical Therapy, Occupational Therapy and Speech Therapy. Can we receive these services at home?
A. Yes, all these disciplines can be provided at your home as long as we receive a prescription from your doctor and you meet the 'home bound' requirement.
Q. How do I know if I'm eligible for Home Health benefits under Medicare??
A. Generally, you are eligible for Medicare if you or your spouse worked for at least 10 years in Medicare-covered employment and you are 65 years or older and a citizen or permanent resident of the United States. If you arena’t yet 65, you might also qualify for coverage if you have a disability or with End-Stage Renal disease (permanent kidney failure requiring dialysis or transplant). If you have questions about your eligibility for Medicare Part A or Part B, or if you want to apply for Medicare, please call Social Security at 1-800-772-1213. For more Medicare eligibility information, feel free to contact us at 305.275.2533 (Dade) or 954.349.4855 (Broward).
Q. What Home Health services are covered under Medicare?
A. If you normally unable to leave home without help and your doctor determined that you need medical care at home, you could be eligible through Medicare to receive the following free services through The Palace at Home:
Q. How much will I have to pay for Medicare home health care services through the Palace at Home, if at all?
A. Nothing! There is no out of pocket cost to you, as long as you are covered under Medicare - all the services listed above are fully paid by Medicare.
Q. What is 'supplemental insurance'?
A. Supplemental health insurance is a type of insurance policy designed to cover out-of pocket expenses you may have such as deductibles and co-payments. Supplemental health insurance covers additional expenses that your primary insurance or Medicare doesn’t cover, such as hospitalization and doctor visit’s co-pays. Supplemental insurance is not needed to cover Home Health services through Medicare since there are no co-payments in Home Health Care services through Medicare.
Q. I'm currently receiving home health care services through another agency, can I transfer?
A. Medicare beneficiaries under a home health plan of care may decide to transfer from one Home Health Agency (HHA) to another at any time, and Medicare regulations allow them to do so as many times as they wish.
Q. How long can I receive your home health care services?
A. Our Home Health services as listed above can be provided to you as long as your doctor determines home health services are medically neccesary. Your doctor may modify the frequency of our Home Health visits, based on evaluation of your ongoing medical status and progress.
Q. Am I automatically eligible to receive home health aide services?
A. Medicare covers home health aide services only if you are also receiving at the same time: skilled care such as nursing care or therapy and it is deemed medically necessary. The home health aide services must be part of the home care for your illness or injury.
Q. What happens if I'm hospitalized during the time period I'm receiving your home health care services ('episode')?
A. In the event that you are hospitalized during your care plan, your status will be placed ‘on hold’. We will resume your home health services upon your discharge, subject to your doctor’s orders and discharge plan.
Q. What is not covered under Medicare?
A. Currently, Medicare does not cover (does not pay) for any of the following:
• 24-hour-a-day care at home;
• Meals delivered to your home;
• Homemaker services like shopping, cleaning, and laundry; and
• Personal care given by home health aides like bathing, dressing, and using the bathroom when this is the only care you need.
To keep up to date with what services Medicare currently covers, visit:
http://www.medicare.gov/Coverage/Home.asp
Q. What is 'home bound'?
A. In order to be eligible for home health services, your status must be determined by your doctor as ‘home bound’. A home bound patient, is a patient that normally is unable to leave home without help. To be homebound means that leaving home takes considerable and taxing effort. You can be homebound and still leave home for medical treatment or short, infrequent absences for non-medical reasons, such as trips to a barber or church. A need for adult day care doesn't keep you from getting home health care.
Q. Can I receive home health without a doctor's prescription?
A. No. All of our home health services must be based on your doctor's prescription.
