Are you considering home healthcare?
Clinicians who utilize the FeldCare Connects network work in a home healthcare environment. That means the patients they work with are not being served in a clinic or hospital, but they are being served at home.
Often, these patients are recovering from an injury, brain trauma, or illness and need help during their recovery.
Patients needing in-home care may be entirely or partially homebound. This means the recovery and treatment experience will be different than an in-clinic or in-hospital experience. Both patients and clinicians may find home healthcare to be both different – and in some ways more practical – than an in-clinic experience.
How to have a great experience in a home healthcare environment as a clinician
At FeldCare Connects, clinicians work with home health agencies to link with patients who need home health services. This means that PTs, SLPs, OTs, and RDs will work with various agencies throughout their time as freelancers.
Here are five steps you, as a clinician, can take to ensure you have a great experience in home health:
1. Build your doctor bag.
As a home healthcare clinician, you will need to bring all of your tools and materiel with you to each appointment. This can be a challenge – but it is also a fun way to get creative.
The first step is to build a doctor bag with all of your essentials inside, then consider what additional tools are handy or have a multitude of uses. You can both get creative with a patient’s natural environment and have the necessary tools available to modify and improve the patient’s therapy experience.
2. Communicate with the patient.
As a freelancer, you are in charge of patient communication and scheduling. However, as a clinician, you also likely know that the patient must be seen a particular number of times weekly or monthly to ensure they get the best care.
Communicate with your patient, share your priorities with them, and delineate any boundaries you may need to set.
3. Use the app to communicate with your home health agency and any assistant you may use.
FeldCare Connects utilizes the cliniCONNECTS app to help you find and schedule patients, make clinical notes, fill out paperwork, and more. This HIPPA-compliant app allows you to make patient notes, communicate with the home health agency, and even share updates with the assigned assistant. Be sure to communicate clearly through the app to ensure your patient receives consistent care.
4. Complete paperwork as you go.
The one thing many clinicians find most challenging about independent home healthcare work is not the work itself but the administrative paperwork. The easiest way to complete everything on time and within the correct billing period is to complete it as you go. If you have questions about your paperwork, the FeldCare Connects team and the administrative team at the home healthcare company with whom you work will be more than happy to help.
5. Stay on top of messages from FeldCare.
Updates to the healthcare industry, paperwork requirements, upcoming events, and more happen throughout the year. At FeldCare Connects, our team works diligently to keep you up-to-date about the latest changes so that you can focus on providing excellent patient care.
Are you a PT, OT, SLP, or RD interested in providing freelance home healthcare? Apply to be part of the network here.
Reach out to FeldCare Connects to kickstart your journey in home health now! Either call us at (818) 926-9057, or go to feldcareconnects.com/clinicians
