Questions about home health care

Home health care is skilled medical care in your home, ordered by your doctor. It can include nursing, physical therapy, occupational therapy, speech therapy, wound care, and infusion therapy. The goal is to help you recover after a hospital stay, surgery, or illness, or to manage a chronic condition safely at home.

Home health care is skilled medical care from nurses and therapists, ordered by a doctor and usually covered by Medicare and insurance. Home care (also called personal care or private duty) is non-medical help such as bathing, meals, and housekeeping. Medicare usually does not pay for it when it is the only care you need. Adaptive Home Health provides home health care.

With Original Medicare, you pay $0 for covered home health services. If you need medical equipment such as a walker or hospital bed, you usually pay 20% of the Medicare-approved amount after the Part B deductible. Medicare Advantage and other plans have their own rules, so call us and we will check your coverage.

You are homebound if leaving home takes a considerable and taxing effort. For example, you may need a cane, walker, wheelchair, special transportation, or another person to help you. Or your doctor may advise you not to leave. You can still leave home for medical care, religious services, adult day care, and short, infrequent outings such as a haircut or a family event.

Yes. Home health care starts with an order from a doctor, nurse practitioner, clinical nurse specialist, or physician assistant. Medicare also requires a face-to-face visit with your provider about the reason for home health. The visit must be within 90 days before or 30 days after care starts. If you do not have a referral yet, call us and we will work with your doctor.

Call us at 214-440-1394 (Texas) or 303-597-0505 (Colorado). Or ask your doctor or hospital discharge planner to send a referral to Adaptive Home Health (fax 214-440-1523 in Texas, or email referrals@adaptivehh.com). Our team checks your insurance and service area, coordinates with your doctor, and schedules your first visit.

A nurse or therapist comes to your home to start care. The first visit takes longer than later visits. The nurse or therapist asks about your health and reviews every medicine you take. They also check your home for safety risks such as loose rugs or a hard path to the bathroom. It is a safety check, not an inspection of your housekeeping. Together with your doctor, they set up your plan of care. It helps to have your medicine bottles (including over-the-counter medicines), insurance cards, and hospital discharge papers ready. You can have a family member there if you like.

Your doctor's orders and your plan of care set how often nurses and therapists visit. Many patients have more visits at first and fewer as they recover. Most visits last less than an hour. The first visit is longer. Ask your care team for your visit schedule, and call us if you have questions about it.

Yes. If you have Medicare, you have the right to choose any Medicare-certified home health agency that serves your area. When you leave the hospital, you can tell your discharge planner or doctor that you would like Adaptive Home Health.

We accept Medicare, VA and military programs, and many commercial plans. Medicare Advantage plans cover home health but may require prior approval or an in-network agency. See the insurance plans we accept or call us to check your plan.

We provide home health care in Texas (Houston, Dallas–Fort Worth, Austin, San Antonio, and Central Texas) and Colorado (Denver). See our locations, or call us to confirm we serve your address.

Your doctor certifies home health care in 60-day periods. Care can continue for more periods as long as you remain eligible and your doctor reviews and renews your plan of care.

Talk with your care team and your doctor. Your doctor can order more care if you still need it. Before Medicare-covered home health services end, the agency must give you a written notice. You can ask for a fast appeal. The notice explains how. Medicare does not require you to keep improving: skilled care to keep your condition from getting worse can still be covered.

Yes. If you have Medicare, you can change to any Medicare-certified home health agency that serves your area. Tell your doctor and the new agency, and the new agency will work with your doctor on the orders. To switch to Adaptive Home Health, call us at 214-440-1394 (Texas) or 303-597-0505 (Colorado).

No. Home health is visits, not shifts. A nurse, therapist, or aide comes for the visits in your plan of care and then leaves. Medicare does not cover 24-hour care at home, meal delivery, or homemaker services. Between visits, family members or other caregivers help, and your care team teaches them what to do. If you need more help at home, ask us about community resources.