Hoffman Home Care Notes 8/17/2012

Had a good conversation with Tom Hoffman over at Hoffman Home Health.  Here's what I learned:

Dad is paying a flat rate of $283/day for his antibiotics.  Medicare doesn't cover this.  If he had Part D it would be about a third of this price.  He suggested we look into changing it.  I wondered about that and if it would cover any of this and he said not this time, but maybe next time. (On the drive back, I wondered to myself if we had switched to Medicare D when he was in the hsopital the first time, would this current therapy be covered).  He suggested Paul Sheldon at Advocate Insurance, 398-2298 as a good agency to talk to.

He said when he gets the contract to supply a patient, they tell him what is being done and he tries to give them all the supplies they need.  Unfortunately, there is no one method and different home health nurses teach different porcedures.  He did say we should be flushing the off-side picc line every 12, not 24 hours.  He also said the red box should only be used for sharp objects only.

When I asked who should we talk to in his office if we have questions or problems, he replied, "me."  His number is 377-0180.

Home Health Money Saving Tips

Ranae talked with our home health friend, Wendy. Here are some of the things she mentioned: Find out why those line items have no extension and the descrepancy between the actual total and the listed total. (I'm sure Bill is looking into this) Also, things like the IV stand. Make sure that price is the rental of the stand for the term we need it, not by the week or the month. Things like those red waste containers cost, so make sure the things we put in them really need to go in there. Things like alcohol swabs we maybe able to purchase at Costco. Wendy mentioned that Walgreens Option care offers competitive prices. She did say the company we were using had a good reputation.