Glossary of Terms

Personal care tasks that help seniors engage in routine activities, such as using the toilet, bathing, dressing, eating, cooking, and moving around within their home.

Care plans include tasks and goals to help caregivers provide the best physical, mental, and emotional wellbeing care. This document describes the home care services needed and when the client would like to initiate care.

Companion care, or companionship, provides seniors with non-medical support, including emotional support, friendship, and socialization. Common activities include conversation, mental stimulation (playing games, going for a walk, listening to music), meal prep, laundry and light housekeeping, grocery shopping and errands, transportation to appointments and social events, and reminders for hygiene and grooming.

Technology used to verify that home or community-based service visits occur. The purpose of EVV is to ensure that services are delivered to people needing those services and that providers only bill for services rendered. EVV typically verifies visit information through a mobile application on a smartphone or tablet, a toll-free telephone number, or a web-based portal. EVV requirements were put into action by the 21st Century Cures Act in 2016. Each state is able to decide which model they will use to implement EVV:

1. Provider Choice Model: In provider choice, the state does not become involved in each provider’s vendor selection.
2. MCO Choice Model: In this model, the state allows each Managed Care Organization to decide which vendor it will accept.
3. State Choice Model: The state Medicaid authority selects one or two approved vendors.
4. Open Vendor Model: This is a hybrid solution. The state selects a single vendor while allowing providers and MCOs to continue using their existing EVV systems.

You can read about the importance of EVV in our recent blog post: https://axiscaresales.com/why-evv-is-crucial-to-your-home-care-business/

An electronic health record (EHR) is a digital version of a patient’s paper chart. EHRs are secure, real-time records that make information such as medical history, diagnoses, medications, treatment plans, immunizations, allergies, test results, and more available instantly. EHRs are designed to share information with other health care providers, such as laboratories and specialists, so that important care information can be shared with all providers involved in the patient’s care.

An electronic medical record (EMR) is a digital version of a patient’s paper chart and contains the medical and treatment history of patients at one agency. The difference between an EMR and an EHR is the accessibility of the patient’s information by other health care providers. EMRs are usually housed within one system and unable to “travel” to other EMR systems.

HIPAA is a federal law designed to protect patients’ medical records and other health information that is provided to health plans, doctors, hospitals, and other health care providers. Developed by the Department of Health and Human Services, these new standards give patients access to their medical records and more control over how their personal health information is used and disclosed.

Home Care software assists non-medical care providers with scheduling, billing, record keeping, visit verification, and inter-agency communication. (Capterra, 2021)

Home Health Care is medical care provided in the home by a skilled medical professional. Examples of home health care include skilled nursing care, physical, occupational, and speech therapies.

Live-in shifts are scheduled for a 24-hour period.

Coverage that helps policyholders pay for long-term care in their home or an assisted living facility.

The United States health program for eligible individuals and families with low incomes and resources. States and the U.S. government share the cost of Medicaid, with states administering the program according to federal requirements.

Non-medical home care refers to support at home that does not involve medical skills; services include light housekeeping, running errands, or offering pleasant companionship.

Unlike traditional in-home care services, private duty nurses provide one-on-one skilled medical care. They are qualified to offer this care in the comfort of the patient’s own home, or in a facility such as a hospital or nursing home. Private duty nurses are Registered Nurses (RNs) or Licensed Practical Nurses (LPNs).

Telehealth refers to the remote delivery of care using technology such as landline, mobile phones, and the internet. Remote monitoring of a patient’s situation combined with teleconferencing (when appropriate) allows the patient to remain in the comfort of their own home, saving them the stress of unnecessary travel. For the record, this technique has long been used, and beneficially, in the care of dermatology, cardiology, and neurology patients.