Help at Home: Post-Operative Home Care FAQs
Recuperating without help after surgery isn’t easy. In fact, it is a very crucial and difficult step to your ultimate recovery. Most people have no idea what type of care they will need, how to find it, or what they are getting into. BrightStar Care of Mid-Missouri would like to provide our visitors with the right resources and share our expertise during a very difficult and challenging time in many lives. This Post-Operative Home Care FAQ Guide identifies some of the most frequently asked questions – and answers – to guide you in the right direction.
1) What is Post-Operative Home Care?
Post-operative home care is the care you receive inside the comfort of your home following a surgery. When someone undergoes surgery, chemotherapy or another treatment for chronic disease management, or they suffer from a physical trauma such as an accident, it can take time for them to regain their ability to get around on their own and manage their daily activities again. Post-operative caregivers can help provide
daily living assistance, such as preparing meals and picking up prescriptions, fall prevention assistance, rehabilitative exercises, wound care, medication monitoring and more. Home Care might be provided through your hospital, from a loved one, or through an agency like BrightStar Care of Mid-Missouri. We’re here with the resources, care and support that help our clients restore health and independence, getting back to their lives.
2) What types of services are provided with post-operative home care?
Depending on who provides the care, services can vary throughout the industry. However, when you or a loved one is faced with a challenge and needs care after surgery, chemotherapy, injuries, accidents and more, you need services that only an industry leader can provide. BrightStar Care of Mid-Missouri provides a full range of post-op care, from daily living assistance to fall prevention and more.
- Daily Living Assistance: BrightStar Caregivers can help will a wide range of daily activities, including preparing meals, assisting with bathing and dressing, and running errands such as grocery shopping and filling prescriptions.
- Rehabilitative Activities: Our caregivers can also assist our clients with rehabilitative activities, walking and exercise programs.
- Fall Prevention: Falls can cause additional injury to the body, hindering the healing process following surgery or treatment. BrightStar Care of Mid-Missouri provides 24-hour monitoring and assistance – including helping patients to the bathroom at night – to prevent falls and promote your healing.
- Medication Monitoring: BrightStar offers medication management services that ensure appropriate use – as well as the comfort and safety of patients – all while optimizing healing. Our caregivers are also trained to recognize and manage the signs of adverse or allergic reactions.
- Wound Care: Infection can delay recovery and prompt further complications for individuals with post-op, acute or chronic wounds. BrightStar provides comprehensive wound care to prevent infection and encourage healing, by ensuring a clean and sterile environment, changing dressings and providing nutritional support.
3) Will I need post-operative home care assistance?
It is best to speak to your physician about post-operative care prior to your procedure, so you can prepare as much as possible. Depending on the type of surgery, accident or condition you have, there are many potential complications in the post-operative period. General complications include infection, problems at the surgical site, and blood clots due to inactivity. Prolonged inactivity might also lead to loss of muscle strength. Ask as many questions as possible prior to your surgery about post-operative care and possible post-operative complications. The answers to these questions will help you make the appropriate accommodations. Once you determine your post-operative needs, you will have a better understanding of the type of post-operative care required for those needs. Please feel free to call
BrightStar Care of Mid-Missouri if you would like to find out if post-operative home care is right for you at 573-777-9222.
4) How do I find a home health aide?
The first step to finding the right caregiver is to assess you or your loved one’s needs and determine what type of care is needed. Typically the hospital will provide short-term nursing care, if needed, inside the hospital before you are discharged. Occasionally the hospital will provide a nurse from an agency or in-house who will come to your home and evaluate your continuing needs and make the transition a little easier. However, a health care professional trained to offer home care service can give you the best care you need after being discharged from the hospital. When seeking out a professional home health aide, start by asking friends and family for referrals. If you do opt to use an agency, call a few and ask for price quotes and check to see whether they do background checks on their workers. All of BrightStar Care of Mid-Missouri’s caregivers are rigorously screened. We interview everyone in person and the conduct a thorough reference, criminal background check, and drug screen test. Everyone that works with us, from home health aides to nurses, are bonded and insured. We match caregivers to you and your family based on the skills needed and personality traits necessary for a good relationship.
5) My loved one lives in a facility (hospital, nursing home, assisted living). Can she still receive BrightStar’s Post-Operative Care Services?
Yes, BrightStar Care of Mid-Missouri can provide care wherever the client calls home. While assisted living facility staff can most likely help with showers and dressing, they might not be able to perform medical tasks, like emptying surgical drains.
6) How much does post-operative home care cost?
The cost of hiring a caregiver will depend on the type of assistance needed. BrightStar offers several levels of care, and costs are determined based on each client’s needs. Home care can even cost less than a prolonged stay in the hospital. Instead of paying all kinds of hospital fees, you can only pay for the service you require inside the comfort of your home. Your insurer can give you a general sense of the home-care services you are entitled to. Check your long-term care policy, which usually covers temporary home care. BrightStar Care of Mid-Missouri’s health care services can be cancelled at any time. Other agencies call for clients to adhere to minimums to meet their requirements. BrightStar only wants to meet your requirements and needs, and does not have a minimum hour requirement. Please call our Mid-Missouri, MO office at (573) 777-9222 and have an intake coordinator assess your situation. We will then be more than happy to provide you with a quote on the price of services.
7) Are post-op home care services covered by Medicare or insurance?
Medicare pays for you to get certain health care services in your home if you meet certain eligibility criteria and if the services are considered reasonable and necessary for the treatment of your illness or injury. Many long-term care policies will reimburse for these kinds of services. We are happy to work with your insurance company to make that determination. We will also assist you by billing the insurance company directly. You can find more information about Medicare home health care benefits and eligibility on Medicare’s website.
8) What should I look for in a home care agency?
The best in-home agencies cater its services to your needs and requirements, are available when you need them, and most importantly, are highly skilled and trained. Here are a few qualities to look for in a home care agency:
- Available 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, 365 days a year.
- They guarantee that services will always be provided.
- Employees are bonded against theft.
- Employees are company employees, are screened and have national background checks ran on each of them.
- Allow changes in schedule and services, with no binding contracts.
- Friendly, skilled nursing staff.
- Positive reviews and recommendations.
- RN oversight and care coordination with EVERY client.
9) What makes BrightStar Care of Mid-Missouri different from other home care companies?
What distinguishes BrightStar of Mid-Missouri is that the care we provide revolves around you, our client. The services we provide are custom tailored to each client’s individual needs. We provide a Registered Nurse to oversee and coordinate care for each and every one of our clients and guarantee compatibility. We are also available to all of our clients around the clock. Our team is available 24 hours a day, 7 days a week to provide service wherever it is needed. We’ll be there anytime, any place. If you or a loved one has any questions or concerns about home care, feel free to contact BrightStar Care of Mid-Missouri online at
https://www.brightstarcare.com/midmissouri/, or give us a call at 573-777-9222.
