You Have the Right to Choose Your Home Health Care Service Provider
Federal hospital law guarantees a person’s right to choose the home care provider that he or she wants in their home following discharge from a hospital. This is an important health care right and we understand how difficult this decision can be.
There are many options available for obtaining care, and we respect your right to choose the services that meet your unique home care needs. If you are being discharged from a hospital, the Discharge Planner should work with you and your family to understand your individual home care needs based on your condition and expected recovery.
If home care is recommended, and you are insured through Medicare, the hospital is required to give you a list of all the home care agencies that can serve you at home, in addition to any hospital sponsored or owned home care services. It is your choice to decide who comes in your home and cares for you.
The Balanced Budget Act of 1997 prohibits discrimination of post-hospital referrals to home health agencies and other entities.
SEC 4321 entitled “NONDISCRIMINATION IN POST-HOSPITAL REFERRAL TO HOME HEALTH AGENCIES AND OTHER ENTITIES” pertains to notification of availability of home health agencies and other entities as part of the discharge planning process. This section is amended to add “Consistent with section 1802, the discharge plan shall not specify or otherwise limit the qualified provider which may provide post-hospital home health services and identify any entity to whom the individual is referred in which the hospital has a disclosable financial interest.”
As part of the discharge planning process, hospitals are required to include “the availability of home health services through individuals and entities that participate in the Medicare Program and that serve the area in which the patient resides and that request to be listed by the hospital as available.”
Remember, it is your right to choose your home health care provider.