Here’s what separates personal care and skilled care assessments.
Should you require long-term healthcare services, you will first need to undergo a consultation to assess your needs. Depending on your state’s regulations and the services that you need, you may need a personal care or skilled care assessment. But how do these two options differ? Here’s what separates personal care and skilled care assessments.
Personal Care Assessment
If you need help with activities of daily living (ADLs)or instrumental activities of daily living (IADLs), then you will undergo a personal care assessment. ADLs and IADLs include:
- Bathing
- Dressing
- Toileting
- Feeding
- Ambulation
- Grooming
- Grocery shopping
- Medication reminders
- Transportation
- Homemaking
Personal care assessments do not require the presence of a licensed nurse as medical services are not required. The goals of a personal care assessment include the following:
- Learning more about the client and their family
- Creating a care plan that includes assisting the client with ADLs and IADLs in accordance with state regulations
- Conducting a visual assessment of the client to verify that the care plan is appropriate
- Understanding the social and emotional wellbeing of the client
- Learning about the current physical health of the client
- Understanding the client’s general cognition and decision-making abilities
- Conducting a visual assessment of the environment to ensure client and caregiver safety
Skilled Care Assessment
A physician must first approve a patient for skilled care. During the assessment, a registered nurse or a licensed practical nurse will conduct an objective clinical evaluation of the individual’s state of health. The evaluation will follow the five-part process of assessment, diagnosing, planning, implementation, and evaluation. The goal of a skilled care assessment is to gather data, observe, and conduct a physical examination to learn about the patient and determine their needs. The information gathered during a skilled care assessment includes the following:
- Assessing a person’s physical and cognitive status
- Assessing a person’s physical and intellectual impairments
- Assessing a person’s vital signs to determine their current physical state
- Reporting abnormal readings to the physician, obtaining orders from the physician, implementing the orders, and evaluating the effectiveness of orders
- Identifying measurements that may be abnormal and recommending a care plan to address these findings
- Assessing current medication compliance
This is what separates personal care and skilled care assessments. Need help with your home healthcare insurance needs? If so, then contact the experts at PMC Insurance Group. We are ready to assist you with all your coverage needs today.
