Services
Home Health
Palliative Care
Hospice Care
Physician Services
Home Health
Patients receive medical care at their residence when they are essentially unable to seek that same clinical care in a facility. Our patients may be able to go back and forth to their doctor or make short trips, but doing so on a regular basis may be a hardship. Thus, ‘the nurse’ comes to them rather than them having to go to ‘the nurse.’ Haven’s home health services provides ‘skilled care’ in the form of Nurses, Nursing Aides, Therapists of Physical, Occupational and Speech treatments, Social Workers and Nutritional Counselors. Such services are prescribed and overseen by the patient’s physician. Like any other health care service, home health services are paid by Medicare, Medi-Cal and Commerical Insurance plans.
The philosophy of home health is to provide the ‘home bound’ patient the clinical care needed to promote a full and lasting recovering, receiving that care in the comfort of their home environment. A partial list of such home health services is:
- A new medicine regimen
- A recent decline in functional ability
- Physical therapy following a fall
- Restoring activities of daily living following an injury or operation
- Wound care
- Teaching new procedures or techniques
- Disease or injury guidance
- Monitoring progress
- Coordinating Care
- Frequently Asked Questions about Home Health Care
Frequently Asked Questions
Who can get access to home health care?
Anyone who is essentially homebound, recovering from an illness or injury, had a recent change in their medical condition or in need of rehabilitation can have home health care.
How can I access home health care?
Accessing home health care is easy by having the patient, a family member or the patient’s physician call us to request a consultation.
Who pays for home health?
Most insurance companies cover Home Health and require a physician’s order for it. Our Home Health Case Managers can help obtain the order and confirm coverage.
Can I keep my own doctor?
Your primary care physician will continue to monitor your care and provide guidance to the home health team. We can also provide physicians services if you do not have a primary physician.
Palliative Care
Palliative care is a type of healthcare that focuses on relieving and preventing the suffering of patients. Different than hospice care, palliative care is appropriate for patients with a serious illness in which the eventual outcome is uncertain. Patients on palliative care may also be aggressively seeking a cure for their illness. Often, the prognosis for the palliative care patient is unclear – in other words, they may not know if returning to their prior state of health is possible. At Haven, our palliative care program is coordinated with a multidisciplinary team of physicians, nurses, social workers, chaplains, counselors, and pharmacists and is provided in the patient’s home or residence.
Your physician can order palliative care for you and your physician may choose to direct your care while on palliative care or may wish to be a consultant on your case. Haven also has physicians that will see you in your home.
While there are some similarities between palliative care and hospice (such as the relief of pain), palliative care is often chosen when the patient is not ready for hospice care, either diagnostically or emotionally.
Frequently Asked Questions
Who can get palliative care?
Anyone who is essentially homebound and coping with a serious illness where the medical outcome is unclear.
How can I access palliative care?
Accessing palliative care is easy by having the patient, a family member or the patient»s physician call us to request a consultation.
Who pays for palliative care?
Palliative care is covered by Medicare and most insurance companies either directly or through the home health benefit. Our Case Managers can help to verify benefits and obtain the physician’s order.
Can I keep my own doctor?
Your primary care physician will continue to monitor your care and provide guidance to the palliative care team. If you do not have a primary physician, we can provide physician services.
Hospice Care
Hospice care refers to the medical care provided to patients with an incurable condition during the last 6 months of their life. Patients choose hospice care either when their physician determines that nothing else can be done to stave off the natural progression of their illness or when the patient chooses to forego further debilitating treatment. In California, most hospice care is provided in the home or residence of the patient. Hospice care may also occur in a Skilled Nursing Facility or Assisted Living Facility.
Hospice care treats the patient’s physical symptoms, but also treats the patient’s and the patient’s family’s emotional, spiritual and psychosocial issues. We believe that the end of a patient’s life is not just a medical experience; it is equally a human experience that benefits from the medical, emotional and spiritual support that hospice offers.
Haven Hospice™ provides hospice care by an interdisciplinary team of physicians, nurses, nursing aides, Social Workers, Chaplains, and Volunteers. Individual treatment plans are developed between this team and the patient and their family. Our philosophy is to involve the patient and family in the treatment plan as changes develop in the natural course of the illness.
Haven’s philosophy of hospice is to provide patients and their family and friends supportive and loving care, in tranquil surroundings while providing them the ability to live fully and comfortably for as long as possible. Hospice care neither prevents nor hastens end of life.
Hospice services are paid by Medicare, Medicaid (Medi-Cal in California), and most Commercial Insurance plans. Most of these plans pay 100% of fees as end of life expenses need to be the least of one’s concern.
Haven Hospice™ also offers hospice services by choice of language in English and in Spanish. By choosing one or the other you are assured that all providers speak that language. All of our Spanish-speaking care providers are fluent in Spanish and English.
Hospice Questions and Myths
Who can receive hospice care?
Patients are eligible to receive hospice care when their medical condition is unlikely to improve and thus there is a limited life expectancy.
How can I access hospice care?
Accessing hospice care is easy by having the patient, a family member or the patient’s physician call us to request a consultation.
Who pays for hospice?
Hospice services are paid by Medicare, Medicaid (Medi-Cal in California), and most Commercial Insurance plans. Most of these plans pay 100% of fees as end of life expenses need to be the least of one’s concern.
Can I keep my own doctor?
Your primary care physician may choose to monitor your care and provide guidance to the hospice team. If they are unwilling or unable to do that, we will provide physician services.
Do I lose my Medicare benefits?
No! This is the most common misunderstanding about the hospice benefit. The Medicare benefit is still in place to cover hospitalizations, surgery, and doctor visits that are not related to the diagnosis that made the patient eligible for the hospice program.
Hospice is only for those imminently dying.
All too often we receive referrals when the patient is days or even hours from dying. When this occurs, few of the many resources that could have made the end of life process more bearable and humanitarian can come to bear. Patients and families are best served when the patient is receiving hospice services over their the last several months.
Hospice means all treatment is stopped.
This is not true, as we are committed to maintaining quality of life. Treatment for the primary disease will include pain control and other palliative treatment to keep the patient comfortable.
Once hospice takes over, the role of the primary care physician in the patient’s care management ceases to exist.
The primary care physician is as involved in the care as they wish to be. While some Primary Care Physicians may not be able to make home visits, we continue to consult with them throughout treatment.
The patient must sign a Do Not Resuscitate (DNR) order before enrolling in hospice.
While a DNR would eventually be appropriate for a terminally ill patient, it is not required to receive care. The family/patient can put one in place at any time they feel it is appropriate and acceptable.
Caregiver Services
Our Caregivers are like having a personal care assistant. They give support and offer relief to the primary caregiver who cares for a loved one. Haven Health’s caregivers are non-medical aides that help their clients with normal routines throughout the day on an hourly or 24-hour basis. They can help with preparing meals, light cleaning, medication reminders, companionship, maintaining hygiene and doing errands. No doctor’s order is needed and services can start at anytime. Caregivers allow people to stay at home rather than going to an assisted living or nursing home. They are there to assist clients with anything you would ask a family member or close friend to do. The services can complement other services such as home health, palliative, and hospice care. Our caregivers have years of experience and/or are Certified Nurses Assistants, Certified Home Health Aide, or a Licensed Vocational Nurse.
There are several ways to afford home care services. Families save thousands of dollars per year hiring a professional caregiver instead of moving to an assisted living facility or nursing home. There are many benefits of hiring a professional caregiver through a licensed and bonded agency. It alleviates the responsibility for the clients to withhold payroll taxes, pay a potential worker’s compensation claim, pay for an increase in home owners insurance, find a last minute replacement, purchase a background check, and ensures that the caregiver knows how to properly care for a homebound individual. All of our caregivers go through a thorough interview process, background check, physical exam, drug test, and have relevant applicable experience. Our caregivers fill in the care gaps and support the care for families and friends.
Our office is open from 8:00 AM to 5:00 PM Monday through Friday, although you can always reach an on-call supervisor 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.
Physician Services
All Health Care At Home involves your doctor. However, not all doctors make house calls. For some patients, Health Care At Home is very short term and therefore the need for a physician to see the patient in the home may not be necessary. For many however, receiving health care in their home may be on an extended basis. It is for that reason that we offer in-home Physician visits when they are needed and when your physician does not do so.