A guide for families
Whether you're recovering after a hospital stay, managing an ongoing condition, or helping a loved one get care, understanding home health can feel overwhelming. We'll guide you through the referral process, explain coverage, and help you understand what to expect from care at home.
Step by step
Home health care is medical care, so it starts with the patient's doctor. Here's the order things happen in.
Family, hospital, or doctor
Call us, or have the hospital or primary doctor call
Call (818) 717-7181 and tell us about the patient and where they live. If the patient is still in the hospital, the discharge planner can send the referral for you. If they're at home, their primary care doctor can.
Federal Home Health
We confirm the order and coverage
Home health care needs an order from the patient's doctor. We get the order and records from the doctor or hospital and check Medicare or insurance coverage.
No doctor's order yet?
Ask the patient's doctor or the hospital discharge planner to refer to Federal Home Health Agency. They can call (818) 717-7181 or fax (818) 717-7191. If that's hard to arrange, call us and we'll contact the doctor's office.
Federal Home Health
A nurse or therapist makes the first visit
They assess the patient at home, review medications and safety, and set up the plan of care with the doctor.
Patient and care team
Visits continue at home
Nurses, therapists, and aides visit as the plan calls for, and the doctor hears about any change. Your care team regularly reviews your needs and adjusts visits or plans discharge as appropriate.
Paying for care
Every health plan is different. We work with the patient's plan to get them all the care it covers. With Original Medicare, there are no out-of-pocket costs for covered home health services. Acceptance depends on the patient's specific plan, authorization requirements, location, and service availability.
Before care starts
- The patient is under the care of a doctor or other allowed healthcare provider, with a plan of care they review regularly.
- That provider orders home health care, such as skilled nursing or therapy.
- We check the patient's insurance, since each plan has its own rules, and we follow the doctor's orders.
Check our FAQ for answers to your questions, or see the insurance we work with. Not sure your patient qualifies? Call (818) 717-7181 and we'll go through it with you.
Once care starts
Visits are scheduled
We set visit times with you ahead of time. Home health is part-time, so the nurse or therapist comes for the visit and then leaves.
Each visit has a purpose
The clinician checks how the patient is doing, gives the treatment or therapy in the plan, and writes up the visit.
The doctor stays informed
Changes in the patient's condition go back to the doctor, who can adjust the plan of care.
For family caregivers
- Keep an up-to-date list of every medicine where the nurse can see it, with the dose of each. Include over-the-counter medicines, vitamins, and supplements.
- Clear a path through the house and make room by the bed or chair where care will happen.
- Write down questions as they come up, and ask them at the next visit.
- Be there for the first visit if you can. That's when the nurse or therapist assesses the patient and starts working out the plan of care.
- Call (818) 717-7181 if anything changes between visits, such as a fall, new pain, or a missed medication.