Frequently Asked Questions

Home health care provides skilled professionals to "home-bound" patients in their home settings while they recover from illness, injury, or surgery. Home health care seeks to prevent further hospitalization and treat the patient at home to become self-sufficient for as long as possible. Celebrity HomeHealth desires to treat you (and your family) like a Celebrity while we help you get better. In addition, Home health care saves you and our government billions of dollars each year in health care costs by preventing recurrent episodes of hospitalizations. When skilled nurses, along with other health care professionals, treat a patient in their home at regular and frequent intervals, further health complications are often prevented.

You can obtain Home Health in a number of ways; here are some of the easiest:

You may request it from your MD, but your doctor is the one who actually orders it.
If you are home and have been ill and need some help, call us and give us your MD name, and then we will call your MD to request Home Health for you.

Your family can call us and give us the MD's name/number, and we can then call the doctor.

If you are in the hospital or a rehab facility, it might already be something that is being considered for you, so you are free to request Celebrity HomeHealth by name.

It is important that you understand that Medicare does want you to have seen your doctor within the last 90 days OR within the next 30 days after we begin service, so you will have to set up an appointment with him/her if you have not seen him/her in the time period.

No longer than 4 hours, depending on the circumstances.

Depending on how long it takes to check your Medicare coverage and to get your doctor's approval, it is about 1-2 days. It might be as quick as 2-4 hours. If you are experiencing a true life-threatening emergency, you will be instructed to call 9-1-1 or to go to the nearest Emergency Room.

Usually, if it is not an emergency, it will be within 2 -4 hours from the MD approval.

OR Will there be any cost to me for Home Health Services?

Home Health Care is generally paid for by Medicare/Medicaid, long-term insurance, or paid with the patient's own resources. In most cases, traditional Medicare pays 100% of the cost of Home Health Services. If you are covered under Medicare Part A or B, you will not be charged for Home Health care. Medicare Advantage is also a part of the Home Health coverage. You will be informed prior to the start of care if you are not covered. If you have another Insurance Plan in place of Medicare or in addition to Medicare, Celebrity HomeHealth will always discuss and negotiate any rates and charges with you prior to your Start of Care.

*Additional AARP, MedPlus, HealthNet

Yes, most supplies are incorporated into the cost of Home Health care and covered by Medicare. Should any supply not be covered, we will look for the "best deal" and then allow you to decide whether you want to purchase it or not; we will also give you the reasons that the item was ordered in the first place.

Celebrity can provide skilled nursing, which includes both registered nurses and licensed vocational nurses, physical therapy, occupational therapy, medical social workers, and speech therapy. We also provide Certified Home Health Aides on a limited basis while a patient regains their strength. Furthermore, we are able to send labs to draw blood, X-ray companies to take X-rays, ultra-sounds, and EKGs. Additionally, if there is something else your doctor would like you to have done in your own home, we will make every effort to accommodate that order.

All professionals hired and working under Celebrity are obligated to meet state (and, if appropriate, federal requirements) that apply to their particular disciplines. Each professional has to submit their resumé, credentials, and work experience. In addition, they should undergo reference checks, license verification, and background checks.

As long as you have a medical or clinical issue that your physician considers unresolved and still in need of Home Health Services, you may stay in service. Those services may vary, but Celebrity HomeHealth stays in contact with your MD to make sure we are getting orders that reflect his/her understanding of your condition. We then, in turn, carry out those orders by taking care of you through our various personnel and services.

Any new or chronic medical condition that has worsened requires a skilled professional to "visit" you in your home setting on a regular basis so that you may avoid further complications in your condition. In today's healthcare industry and aging population, there are numerous healthcare concerns/disease processes that we are prepared to address. Here is a list of some of those we see on a more regular basis, but we are by no means limited to these:

Heart Disease of all types
Diabetes- glucose testing, insulin administration
Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD)
Respiratory Issues of all types – Oxygen Therapy
Pain Management
PT/INR Blood Draw/Coumadin Adjustment
Wound Care – of all types
Post-Surgical Help: (hip replacement, knee replacement, etc.)
Infusion Therapy
*Psychiatric Services (available)
More?

Absolutely! We would be honored to care for you or for your loved one. Federal law gives patients the freedom to choose the home health company they want under Medicare regulations. Just tell your doctor that Celebrity HomeHealth is the Company you would like and give him/her our phone number, found in the Contact Us Section.

After we have received the signed order from your physician allowing us to start Home Health Care for you, we will send a Registered Nurse or Therapist to your home for the initial evaluation/assessment. It is during this time that he/she will gather pertinent information from you (and your family members and/or caregivers) regarding your conditions or diseases. We may contact the hospital or rehab facility if you were recently an inpatient to gather additional information. Furthermore, the nurse or therapist will collect as much data as possible through many different avenues. At Celebrity HomeHealth, this thorough interview is part of our coordinated approach to managing your overall health status. As part of the first visit, the nurse will give you a basic examination that will include taking your blood pressure, temperature, pulse, and respiratory status; checking your oxygen saturation level through pulse oximetry; checking your lower extremities (legs) for edema; checking all of your skin for any kind of injury: wounds, skin tears, ulcers; listening to your lungs to make sure that they are clear and free of possible infection. The nurse will also ask to see all prescription medications that you are currently taking, as well as any over-the-counter medications, vitamins, or supplements you take on a regular basis. This would also include any ointments you might use on your skin or other body parts. The nurse will ask questions about your past health history, and you may answer to the best of your ability. She may also seek some answers from other family members or caregivers, if appropriate. This would be one of the times you could begin to ask more specific questions about your care. Since it is just the first day, the nurse might not have ALL the answers, but she/he can begin to start to answer as many things as possible on that day. She/he can also call your MD for you if that is something you would like. Celebrity HomeHealth wants you to see the Nurse, the therapist, the office staff (which consists of qualified RNs and LVNs), and yourself as a team working together to help you achieve your health goals to become stronger and more independent. Another goal we strive for is to educate you in self-care management as we partner with your doctor to promote disease prevention and proactive care. At the core of that proactive care is Celebrity HomeHealth's "Plan of Care" or "POC."

Yes. After the clinician has his/her first visit to your home and the initial assessment is completed, that information is communicated to your physician. Working with our staff and with your physician, we develop a personal plan of care just for you. Celebrity HomeHealth Staff will implement this physician-ordered plan of care and keep your doctor informed of changes and updated about your progress.

The frequency of Home Health care visits and the services provided are based on your doctor's orders in your personal plan of care. Your doctor may change the number of visits in your plan of care, increasing or decreasing that number in order to provide you with the best Home Health care for your needs.

Celebrity HomeHealth has two locations in Southern California: Van Nuys and Upland. We also have an office in Tempe, Arizona. However, those locations do not necessarily limit us to those specific addresses. Our offices are located there, but we send staff out to the surrounding metro areas. If you live anywhere in the vicinity of those locations, please do not hesitate to call us; we will try our best to accommodate your needs.

There are several requirements for receiving home health care. You must have a doctor order Home Health Care. As noted above in other sections, we can help facilitate this by calling the MD office to request an order. Another requirement for eligibility is that you must either need skilled nursing care or therapy (i.e., physical/occupational/speech therapy) on a regular or intermittent basis. Additionally, you must be restricted in your ability to leave home ("home-bound), and your home-bound status must be certified by a physician. This means that you require the help or supervision of another person or you use a supportive device such as a cane or walker. You can leave the home as often as you need for medical treatment. You are allowed brief and infrequent absences from the home for some non-medical reasons, such as an occasional trip to the barber/beauty shop or a walk around the block.

More detailed information about eligibility is available in *The Center for Medicare and Medicaid Services guide, "Medicare and Home Health Care (PDF)."

Essentially, your condition should be such that there exists a normal inability to leave home, and doing so would require a considerable and taxing effort. Generally speaking, you would be considered home-bound if you have a condition due to an illness or injury that restricts your ability to leave home without the aid of an assistive device (such as crutches, canes, walkers, or wheelchairs) or without the assistance of another person, or if leaving home is medically inadvisable. It does not mean that you can NEVER leave the house. Certainly, you may go to your medical appointments and/or treatments. In addition, you may attend religious services. Overall, however, your condition is one that leaving your home requires great effort and energy on your part as well as on the part of others.

There are certain criteria that must be met before we can discharge you from Celebrity HomeHealth and the care you have been receiving from our staff.

You must be considered independent in your care, able to either care for yourself or have family or caregivers now in place who can take care of you.

You must be considered safe in the environment you are in.

You have a support system that you can call on to help you if your health declines.