Whether in a hospital, at a nursing home, in assisted living situations, or at home, health care professionals work in shifts. You are not going to have the same person there all the time. In addition, there is often more than one type of professional involved. You may have a nurse, doctor, aide, and/or some type of therapist. In many of the above situations, the professionals will meet, or have a few minutes between shifts to inform each other of what is going on. However, home health care does not always work this way. Here are some of the reasons you need to make sure that your home health company provides 24-hour case management.

Consistency

When you are being treated for an injury or illness, it is important that all the medical professionals who see you treat you the same way. While they each may perform a different procedure, the overall treatment needs to be the same. If there is a problem and something needs to be changed, it can be noted so that the whole team is aware of the change and adjusts accordingly.

Questions

Home health care is not always around-the-clock. This means, you may have a doctor come visit during the day, a nurse come for a few hours in the evening, and then have an aid there overnight. While there will be a record of everything done and needed with the patient, sometimes there is a question regarding a new order or how something was done. When there is a 24-hour case manager, the professional can call and have any questions answered. He or she will not have to wait until the recording professional can be reached.

Problems

If there is ever a problem, or emergency with your health, whoever is there noticing the problem, can call the case manager. This may show that the problem was noted earlier and is being watched, or that it was expected and what should be done for it. This can be something as simple as an elevated temperature. Having complete documentation of everything that is going on gives all the professionals the knowledge they need to help you best.

While a case manager does keep all your records and information up-to-date, he or she is also a medical professional who can help make decisions or get in touch with someone who can help. If your home health company does not offer this service, you should look for one that does, such as Accu-Care Nursing Service Inc.