Home Health Care in Temple Terrace, FL

Temple Terrace is a small, leafy city tucked between the Hillsborough River and the University of South Florida area. Old oaks shade its streets, the golf club sits at the heart of its oldest section, and several major medical centers are close by. That last part shapes the kind of care many residents need when they come home.

What is home health care in Temple Terrace, FL?

Home health care in Temple Terrace, FL, means licensed nurses and therapists continue the treatment your doctors started, but in your living room instead of a clinic. Each visit follows your doctor’s orders, and between visits you get a plan you can follow on your own.

Because residents live near cancer, heart and surgical specialists, visits here are often more complex. Your plan might include:

• Skilled nursing to watch symptoms after surgery or between cancer treatments, give injections and catch problems early.
• Home IV therapy for IV antibiotics or fluids, plus PICC line care.
• Occupational therapy so the shower, the closet and the stove feel manageable again after a long illness.
• Speech therapy for speaking, memory and safe swallowing after a stroke.

A physical therapist, a social worker or an aide may also join, depending on what your plan of care lists.

Who qualifies for home health in Temple Terrace?

Going to chemotherapy, dialysis or doctor visits does not by itself mean you are not homebound. Medicare treats you as homebound when you need help, a device or your doctor’s advice to stay in because of your illness, and leaving the house takes a considerable and taxing effort. You may still take short, infrequent trips for medical treatment, religious services or adult day care.

To qualify, your oncologist, surgeon, primary doctor or another permitted clinician (an NP, CNS or PA) has to certify that you need care and then review your plan of care. The skilled help you need has to be part-time or intermittent, whether that means nursing, physical therapy or speech pathology, or it can be occupational therapy that carries on from earlier care. Finally, Medicare wants that clinician to have seen you in person during the 90 days before your care begins or within 30 days after it.

Medicare coverage for care at home

Medicare can cover home health from a Medicare-certified agency when you meet those rules. Round-the-clock shifts, meals, and homemaker or personal care with no skilled service attached are not covered, no matter which ZIP code you live in. We accept Traditional Medicare, plus long-term care plans and private pay. Medicare Advantage coverage and our participation depend on your specific plan, so we verify both before care starts. Call (813) 931-0015 to verify your coverage. Details are on our insurance page.

How to start care in Temple Terrace

Your doctor or your hospital’s discharge planner starts the process by sending your orders to Making Memories Home Health. If you will go home with an IV or PICC line, tell them early so the orders, the infusion pharmacy and our first nursing visit line up. Physicians and case managers can send a referral or fax (813) 931-0017. Families are welcome to call (813) 931-0015 with questions during our weekday hours, which run from 8:30 AM to 5:00 PM.

After admission, you can phone our on-call nurse at night or on weekends too. For an emergency, call 911.

IV and PICC line care close to the medical district

Some patients leave AdventHealth Tampa or Moffitt still needing IV antibiotics or fluids. With a doctor’s order, our nurse runs each dose, watches how you respond and shows your family how to keep the tubing clean and dry. PICC visits include flushing, a fresh dressing and a close look for redness, swelling or drainage where the line enters your arm. We do not insert PICC lines; your hospital or infusion team places them and our nurses care for them at home. Those IV drugs are shipped by an outside infusion pharmacy, set up through your physician or the hospital, not by us.

Areas we serve in Temple Terrace

We cover Temple Terrace’s two main ZIP codes, 33617 and 33637. That includes downtown Temple Terrace, Temple Park, the streets along Riverhills Drive and the golf club, and the neighborhoods near Florida College.

Our nurses leave the North Dale Mabry Highway office and head east on Busch Boulevard to 56th Street, or take Fowler Avenue toward I-75. Bullard Parkway carries them across the eastern side of town.

We coordinate with discharge planners at hospitals such as AdventHealth Tampa on East Fletcher Avenue, Moffitt Cancer Center on USF Magnolia Drive, Tampa General Hospital and St. Joseph’s Hospital.

Next door, we serve the neighborhoods of Tampa, and all of Hillsborough County.

Our nurses and therapists speak English and Spanish.