Home Care:  The Preferred Choice

When people are asked where they prefer to receive care, "at home" is the number one answer. With today's technological advances, home care agencies can deliver more care to more people than ever before, so that people can remain in the comfort and security of their own homes to receive the health care they need. With today's aging baby boomers, the demand for home care services continues to grow and home care agencies are expanding their services to meet the increasing demand. 

Home care encompasses a wide array of health and supportive services delivered in the home. Clients cross the spectrum of care—from seniors needing assistance with activities of daily living; to patients needing assistance after surgery; to new mothers needing postpartum nursing visits for mom and newborn; to the chronically ill who are maintained with skilled supervision, support services, home modification and equipment.

Home Care Offers Both Short Term and Long Term Care Services
“Home health care” commonly refers to skilled clinical treatments, such as the services of a registered nurse or physical therapist, or for administration of in-home therapies and other skilled care. These often are short-term services that allow patients to receive skilled services in their homes

The term “home care” often describes a range of medical and supportive services for post-acute, chronically ill, disabled and elderly populations. In many cases, home care services are long term care services, providing patients with homemaking, personal care for nutrition and hygiene, and adaptive devices to prevent slips and falls which are as important to their rehabilitation and functioning as the more sophisticated health technologies delivered at home. 

 

Home Care in New York State

New York’s Medicaid home care programs provide a wide range of services to hundreds of thousands of homebound sick and elderly patients throughout the State. At the same time, nearly 180,000 New Yorkers receive home care funded by the Federal Medicare Program. Thousands of New Yorkers purchase home care services privately and through private insurance coverage in both indemnity and managed care benefit plans.

The average home care visit costs significantly less than a day of nursing home or inpatient hospital care. Home care helps decrease rising health care costs, offering opportunities for achieving real cost savings for a broad variety of patients. New York must continue to look to home care as the primary source of long-term care services to keep patients in their homes and communities.