The Health Department's Certified Home Health Agency (CHHA) has been providing home care service to residents of Cayuga County for over 40 years.  Home Health Care is medical care provided in the patient's home by our team of skilled professionals for the purpose of nursing or rehabilitation.  Under a physician's plan of care, services are coordinated in a special way to provide individuals with quality care in the comfort of their own home.
 

Below is a listing of services, with descriptions of those services, that the Cayuga County Home Health Care Agency offers to those in need of Home Care.

• Nursing - A Registered Nurse provides a comprehensive assessment of a patient’s needs and works collaboratively with the physician to develop a plan of care to be provided by the nurse or coordinated with other health professionals.  The nurse regularly reassesses the patient’s condition and communicates with the physician and other health professionals to update the plan of care as appropriate.  Nurses offer education and guidance in health practice and promotion to individuals and families.  Typical tasks include but are not limited to:  observation and assessment of a patient’s condition, teaching, injections, insertion / irrigation of catheters, administration of medications, wound care and other ordered treatments, and venipuncture.
   
• Tele-Health - Tele-Health allows nurses to monitor a patient's vital signs daily from the office.  Monitors are placed in a patient's home and each day the patient transmits their blood pressure, heart rate, oxygen saturation, respirations, and weight.  In addition, the machine asks the patient pertinent questions that assist the nurse in triaging problems.  Tele-Health prevents problems from worsening, prevents urgent care visits to the doctor's office or to the emergency room and reduces nursing visits.
   
• Physical Therapy - The Physical Therapist provides an evaluation of the patient’s medical condition and establishes a plan of care with the physician that is reasonable and necessary with the expectation that the functional status will improve within a predictable period of time.  Rehabilitation includes:  therapeutic exercises, gait training, transfer training, range of motion, orthotic and prosthetic training, pain relief modalities and other ordered treatments, equipment training and establishing a home exercise program.
   
• Occupational Therapy - The Occupational Therapist evaluates for restoring physical function to upper extremities, provides motor and tactile activities to increase sensory output and cognitive function, instructs activities and equipment to improve independence with activities of daily living, vocational assessment and training.
   
• Speech Therapy - The Speech Therapist evaluates for speech and language disorders as a result of injury or illness to speech / voice production that cause communication disabilities and any swallowing disorders.  Rehabilitation includes:  speech articulation and oral motor exercises, receptive and expressive language therapy, aphasia word retrieval exercises, non-oral communication system training, swallowing therapy and establishing a home exercise program. 
   
• Home Health Aide Services - Under the supervision of the Registered Nurse or Therapist, the Home Health Aide provides assistance with personal hygiene, dressing, grooming, exercises, transfers and ambulation, incidental housekeeping and other related supportive tasks to a patient with health care needs at home. 
   
• Medical Social Service - The Social Worker provides an evaluation of the patient’s social problems related to an illness or injury and identifies a plan to manage or improve upon these problems by referral to community resources or counseling.
   
• Nutrition Services - The Registered Dietician provides an evaluation of the patient’s nutritional needs and food patterns, plans for the provision of foods and drink appropriate for the individual’s needs, instructs and counsels patients and families in meeting the normal and therapeutic needs of the patient.
   
• Medical Supplies - Supplies that are of non-routine nature and are ordered by the physician to treat the patient’s illness or injury are provided to Medicare beneficiaries and they include:  dressing or wound care supplies, catheter and ostomy supplies, and syringes.

• Are you a resident of Cayuga County?
• Are you under a physicians care?
• Are you living in your own home, home substitute, i.e. Adult Care Facility, or in an Assisted Living Program?
• Are you homebound (except for medical purposes)?
• Are you in need of part-time intermittent skilled care?