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Home Health Services (In General)
Through its subsidiary companies, HHA Solutions provides two of the four available categories of home health care services that are available to recipients in the State of Texas, namely Licensed and Certified Home Health Services (L&CHHS) and Personal Assistance Services (PAS).
Home and Community Support Services (HCSS or "Skilled Care")
Home and Community Support Services (HCSS) may be considered the core of the home health program. All L&CHHS agencies, by default, are eligible to provide HCSS. In a nutshell, HCSS are easily distinguishable from other home health services in that they generally require a high level of skill and, therefore, must be rendered by licensed healthcare professionals (e.g., nurses and therapists).
All L&CHHS agencies, by default, may provide Home and Community Support Services (HCSS). HCSS apply to patients of all ages. Agencies generally target a particular age demographic, however, depending on reimbursement sources. For example, agencies seeking payment from the Medicare program will target the Medicare-eligible population, which is typified by patients who are aged 65 and over. Alternatively, agencies seeking reimbursement from the Medicaid-eligible population will generally serve children. Better yet, and as a catch-all illustration, agencies seeking private pay reimbursement, from affluent families, for example, may target patients from any demographic.
HCSS include the following:
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Nursing;
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Physical, occupational, speech, respiratory or intravenous therapy;
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Social services; and
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Nutritional counseling
Personal Assistance Services (PAS) (Help with Daily Tasks)
Alternatively, Personal Assistance Services (PAS) generally involve sending workers to patients' homes to help those patients with certain activities of daily living (e.g., cooking, cleaning, bathing, etc.). Because of the nature of the work involved, PAS unlike HCSS does not require healthcare workers to possess professional licenses. Also, PAS services are rendered under contract with the contracting division of the Department of Aging and Disability Services (DADS).
Primary Home Care (PHC)
Primary Home Care (PHC) provides non-technical, non-skilled, in-home attendant services to people who have an approved medical need for assistance with personal care tasks. PHC is available to eligible people whose health problems cause them to be functionally limited in performing activities of daily living according to a practitioner's statement of medical need. Attendants provide PHC services. PHC services include:
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Escorting a person to medical appointments for diagnosis and/or treatment.
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Home management to help with housekeeping activities that support the person's health and safety.
Personal care related to the care of the person's physical health. Services are available to patients who are 21 or older and who:
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Have an unmet need for help with home management and personal care tasks;
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Have a practitioner's statement of medical need;
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Be eligible for Medicaid; and
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Meet a specified functional assessment score and have a functional limitation with at least one personal care task based on their medical condition.
Family Care (FC)
Family Care is a nonskilled, nontechnical attendant care service available to eligible adults who are functionally limited in performing activities of daily living. Services are provided by an attendant and do not require the supervision of a registered nurse. Family Care services include:
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Escort: Accompanying a person to a medical appointment. This service does not include direct transportation by an attendant.
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Home management: Help with housekeeping activities to support the person's health and safety, including cleaning, laundry, shopping and other household tasks.
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Personal care: Help with activities related to physical health, including bathing, dressing, grooming, routine hair and skin care, preparing meals, feeding, exercising, helping with self-administered medication, toileting, and transferring/ambulating.
Services are available to patients who are 18 or older and who:
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Have an unmet need for home management and/or personal care tasks;
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Have income and resources that do not exceed specified limits; and
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Meet a specified functional assessment score.
Community Attendant Services (CAS)
Community Attendant Services (CAS) is a non-technical, non-skilled service providing in-home attendant services to people who need help with personal care tasks. CAS is available to eligible adults and children whose health problems cause them to be functionally limited in performing activities of daily living. CAS services include:
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Escort: Accompanying a person to a medical appointment. This service does not include direct transportation by an attendant.
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Home management: Help with housekeeping activities to support the person's health and safety, including cleaning, laundry, shopping and other household tasks.
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Personal care: Help with activities related to physical health, including bathing, dressing, grooming, routine hair and skin care, preparing meals, feeding, exercising, helping with self-administered medication, toileting, and transferring/ambulating.
Services are available to patients of any age who have limited income and resources, and who:
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Are functionally limited in performing at least one personal care task, based on their medical condition;
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Have a practitioner's statement of medical need;
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Have an unmet need for home management and personal care; and
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Who are not Medicaid eligible.
Home Health Hospice (Coming Soon)
Hospice provides palliative care in a person's place of residence. It consists of medical, social and support services to a terminally ill person, when curative treatment is no longer possible. Services include:
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Bereavement counseling
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Counseling services
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Drugs and biologicals
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General inpatient care (short-term)
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Home health aide services
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Homemaker services
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Household services
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Medical appliances and supplies
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Medical social services
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Nursing care services
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Occupational therapy
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Physical therapy
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Physician services
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Respite care
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Speech language pathology
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Volunteer services
Hospice patients must be eligible for Medicaid. If they are 21 or older, they must not accept any Medicaid services — other than hospice services — related to their terminal illness. Patients also must have a physician's prognosis of six months or less to live, assuming the terminal illness runs its normal course.
Home Health Dialysis (Coming Soon)
DADS permits L&CHHS and LHHS agencies to add a dialysis designation to their license. The designation allows for the provision of dialysis services to patients in their place of residence (not necessarily their homes). For example, On 17 October 2013, the Department of Aging and Disability Services issued Provider Letter 13-36, "Clarification of the Provision of Dialysis Services to Residents in [Nursing Facilities]" As per the clarification, HCSSAs may provide dialysis services to residents in nursing facilities (nursing homes), so long as their licenses contain the dialysis designation and they meet applicable home dialysis regulations.
A competitive analysis reveals that there are different kinds of dialysis treatment methodologies that may be employed to help patients.