United States
Milli....I can see that you are really upset by this encounter with Home Health. Please be reassured that, no matter what the people may say to you, you are in charge of what service you will receive for the money YOU are paying. That said......I think you are worrying needlessly about this initial visit. Here are a couple of points to consider:
It's normal for someone to come and do what they call an "assessment" before starting any program. The purpose of this visit is to obtain your medical information and determine what home services you need and want. Yes, they will take all that same information from you yet again. But I doubt if you must fill out forms. The nurse should just talk with you and input the information on a laptop. Part of the reason for doing this yet again is to have a chance to talk with you and get to know you a bit better. It's the same as if you went to see a new doctor....there would be an initial discussion and information-gathering.
The person will not be roaming around your house and snooping. But there are a couple of things they want to check for your safety. They'll want to know if you have easy access to the bathroom. They might check for loose throw rugs or other tripping hazards. It may be that you can provide this information verbally during the visit, if you prefer. I think you'll find the person that comes very sensitive to your concerns.
As for asking for your address, that would have bothered me too. The facility should have that and I would discuss that with the main office when they open. However, they should have a 24/7 call number or answering service available, so I would call back and use that if you need to talk to someone after regular hours.
Remember that these folks have a responsibility for providing excellent care and support for you. This also includes a legal liability if they were to do something inappropriate for your care needs. So it is to your benefit that they have all the information about you and your case that's possible so they can to the good job you expect.
If your insurance only allows a certain number of home health visits, ask if you can combine the initial intake with other things. You mentioned a limit of 4 visits.....is that for ALL aspects of home health? There are many components, each with a trained specialist to help you....nurses, occupational health, physical health, and sometimes an overall nurse supervisor who does the initial intake and evaluation. This is really an excellent program that can go a long ways in helping you have a smoother recovery.
It most certainly will be okay to wait to start the home health process for a few days. It's common for patients to want to have family members present for all or part of the visits, so they are used to working with that. Please don't let all this upset you. It will get worked out and you're going to be fine.
It's normal for someone to come and do what they call an "assessment" before starting any program. The purpose of this visit is to obtain your medical information and determine what home services you need and want. Yes, they will take all that same information from you yet again. But I doubt if you must fill out forms. The nurse should just talk with you and input the information on a laptop. Part of the reason for doing this yet again is to have a chance to talk with you and get to know you a bit better. It's the same as if you went to see a new doctor....there would be an initial discussion and information-gathering.
The person will not be roaming around your house and snooping. But there are a couple of things they want to check for your safety. They'll want to know if you have easy access to the bathroom. They might check for loose throw rugs or other tripping hazards. It may be that you can provide this information verbally during the visit, if you prefer. I think you'll find the person that comes very sensitive to your concerns.
As for asking for your address, that would have bothered me too. The facility should have that and I would discuss that with the main office when they open. However, they should have a 24/7 call number or answering service available, so I would call back and use that if you need to talk to someone after regular hours.
Remember that these folks have a responsibility for providing excellent care and support for you. This also includes a legal liability if they were to do something inappropriate for your care needs. So it is to your benefit that they have all the information about you and your case that's possible so they can to the good job you expect.
If your insurance only allows a certain number of home health visits, ask if you can combine the initial intake with other things. You mentioned a limit of 4 visits.....is that for ALL aspects of home health? There are many components, each with a trained specialist to help you....nurses, occupational health, physical health, and sometimes an overall nurse supervisor who does the initial intake and evaluation. This is really an excellent program that can go a long ways in helping you have a smoother recovery.
It most certainly will be okay to wait to start the home health process for a few days. It's common for patients to want to have family members present for all or part of the visits, so they are used to working with that. Please don't let all this upset you. It will get worked out and you're going to be fine.
I'm into my fifth week and my knee is still a problem. I can't advise you much on the home visits sadly as in the UK we get ours free under our NHS team and meet some of them in hospital before discharge. My hospital call it their community team and they visited for a week because of my low blood pressure. I will tell you a funny tale though. The one day, one of our cats caught a mouse and brought it into the house, the darn thing ran under my bed. I was only a day out from hospital and couldn't move much. The nurse who came out said " I think you should lye on the bed and I will go through your exercises" my heart was racing as I thought the blooming mouse would run from under the bed and frighten the nurse. She's sat on the end of the bed and I could hear scuttling noises. Thankfully all was well, the mouse stayed put until the nurse went. Then we my husband caught it and put it outside 
