General Home Health FAQs

An Advanced Directive is a document that provides a person the opportunity to give directions about future medical care. It can also serve as a legal document designating another individual (proxy or health agent) to make decisions for you if you are unable to make those decisions yourself. This document will express your wishes if you become incapacitated. It covers your specific preferences for the kind of medical treatment you want or don’t want. It contains how you want people to treat you, and what you want your loved ones to know. NOTE: Advanced Directives are not necessary for a patient to receive AIM Palliative Home Health.

• A Medical Power of Attorney for Health Care: This type of advanced directive allows you to name an individual to make health care decisions when you are not able to do so. This person may also be referred to as a proxy or health care agent.
• Living Will: A living will specifies whether you would like to be kept on artificial life support if you become permanently unconscious or dying and unable to speak for yourself.
• Do Not Resuscitate/DNR Order: A DNR order exists in a written order from a doctor or in a living will, and states that resuscitation should not be attempted if a person suffers a cardiac or respiratory arrest. A DNR order is commonly created when a person who has an inevitably fatal illness wishes to have a more natural death without painful or invasive medical procedures that will not reverse the outcome of the terminal illness.
• LaPOST document: Created with input from health care and legal professionals across the state and approved in 2010 by the Louisiana Legislature as Act 954, the Louisiana Physician Orders for Scope of Treatment (LaPOST) document is a best-practice model for patients with serious, advanced illnesses to state their preferences for end-of-life treatment in a physician’s order. Learn more about LaPOST at http://www.lhcqf.org/.

Home health care refers to any type of medical care that is provided to the patient in their home. Home health care usually includes assisting persons who are recovering from illness, injury or surgery; those who are disabled or chronically ill; persons diagnosed with a terminal illness who wish to continue curative treatments such as dialysis, chemotherapy, or radiation; and those who require therapeutic treatment and/or assistance with the essential activities of daily living (ADLs).

A home health agency (HHA) is an organization that provides services, including skilled nursing care and home care aide services, as well as occupational therapy, physical therapy, speech therapy, and medical social services. If you use a home health agency, the agency will hire and supervise the clinical staff that comes into your home. The agency assumes full liability for all care and is responsible for all employee taxes and benefits.

If home health care is deemed necessary by a physician, your home health agency will conduct a “needs assessment,” which is a detailed evaluation of your situation that confirms the need for services ordered and identifies any other beneficial services. The assessment is usually made by a registered nurse and helps the agency tailor a care plan to meet your needs. After reviewing it with you and before finalizing the plan, the agency advises your physician of its assessment and presents the plan for his/her approval. The plan outlines details, including treatment goals, the specific services and level of care that will be provided, and any medical equipment and supplies that may be required.

A Medicare certified home health agency has met federal requirements for patient care management, called Conditions of Participation, set forth in federal regulations. These agencies can therefore provide home health services that are eligible for reimbursement by Medicare.

In Louisiana, STAT Home Health serves a 50-mile radius surrounding each of our provider number offices which are located in Alexandria, Breaux Bridge, LaPlace, and Sibley. In order to ensure maximum reach into our service areas, we also operate satellite offices throughout the state within these areas as well. Our Pensacola office provides service to Region 1 (Escambia, Santa Rosa, Okaloosa & Walton Counties). Our Southeast Texas offices cover areas surrounding Bellaire, League City, Huntsville, and Houston. For a complete listing of our offices, visit our Locations page.

No. The focus of Traditional Home Health (THH) such as our STAT Home Health is rehabilitative, while the focus of hospice is comfort care and the enhancement of quality of life. Hospice such as our St. Joseph Hospice, provides volunteers, chaplains (spiritual care counselors), around-the-clock clock bedside care (continuous care), and up to 13 months of bereavement services. THH does not provide these services. THH visits are usually 1-2 times per week where hospice visits can average 4-5 times per week.