What is a home health aide?
A home health aide is a trained caregiver who helps with personal care while you recover at home. With a home health aide in Tampa from Making Memories Home Health, you get a hand with the tasks that can be hard or risky after surgery, a hospital stay or an illness, such as getting in and out of the shower.
Aide visits can include:
- Bathing, showering or a sponge bath, and other personal hygiene
- Hair care, shaving, oral care and nail care that does not need a nurse
- Skin care, including watching for redness or sore spots
- Getting dressed and undressed
- Help moving safely: getting in and out of bed or a chair, and walking to the bathroom
- Help using the toilet
- Practicing the safety tips your therapist teaches, such as using a shower chair or walker
A home health aide is not a nurse. Aides do not give medicines, care for wounds that need a nurse, or do other skilled tasks. They also do not provide housekeeping, shopping or meal preparation as a service on their own.
Making Memories Home Health is a Medicare-certified, Joint Commission accredited home health agency based in Tampa. Our aides visit patients in Tampa, Lutz, Bradenton and other communities across Hillsborough, Polk and Manatee counties, in English or Spanish.
Who qualifies for a home health aide?
Aide visits are for people who are recovering at home and who, for now, need help with personal care. Common examples include someone who is:
- Back home after a hip or knee replacement and not yet safe to shower alone
- Weak and tired after a hospital stay for pneumonia, heart failure or an infection
- Recovering from a stroke and relearning how to bathe and dress
- Living with a condition that makes bending, reaching or standing for a long time hard
The most important rule: a home health aide is provided only as part of a plan of care that also includes skilled nursing or therapy. That means you must qualify for home health care first. A doctor or allowed practitioner (a nurse practitioner, clinical nurse specialist or physician assistant) orders your care and reviews your plan of care. You need part-time or intermittent skilled nursing, physical therapy, speech-language therapy or continued occupational therapy. And you must be homebound, which means leaving home takes considerable and taxing effort. Short, infrequent trips for medical care, religious services or adult day care are allowed.
If personal care is the only help you need, Medicare home health is not the right fit. Ask about our private duty in-home care instead: it is paid privately, by the hour, and needs no doctor’s order.
How aides work with your care team
Your aide is part of a team. A nurse or therapist writes the aide’s care plan, which lists exactly what help you need and how often. They also check on the aide’s work and visit you to make sure the plan still fits.
Your aide is an extra set of eyes between skilled visits. If they notice something new, such as redness on the skin, a fall, more confusion, or a change in appetite or mood, they report it to your nurse right away. Your physical therapist or occupational therapist may ask the aide to reinforce the safe ways of moving and bathing they are teaching you. Your skilled nursing team keeps your doctor informed.
As you get stronger, aide visits usually decrease, and they end when you no longer need help or when your skilled care ends. Our nurses are on call 24/7 for current patients with questions between visits. For emergencies, call 911.
Caring for a loved one at home is a lot of work. Our guide to supporting family caregivers shares ideas that can help.
What Medicare covers for home health aide visits
Medicare can cover part-time or intermittent home health aide visits when all of these are true:
- You qualify for home health care and receive skilled nursing, physical therapy, speech-language therapy or continued occupational therapy
- Your doctor or allowed practitioner certifies your need for care and reviews your plan of care
- You are homebound
- You had a face-to-face visit with a provider, related to the reason for care, within the 90 days before or the 30 days after care starts
- Your care comes from a Medicare-certified agency, like Making Memories Home Health
Medicare does not cover:
- A home health aide alone, when personal care is the only care you need
- 24-hour care at home, or overnight or live-in help
- Homemaker services such as cleaning, laundry and shopping
- Meal delivery
Medicare Advantage plans have their own rules, and some need approval before care starts. Read more on our Medicare home health page, see the insurance plans we accept, and call (813) 931-0015 to verify your coverage.
How to start home health aide visits in Tampa
- Talk to your doctor. Ask whether home health care is right for you and request a referral to Making Memories Home Health. If you are in the hospital, ask the discharge planner. Mention that you need help with bathing or dressing.
- Call us at (813) 931-0015. Tell us your doctor’s name and your insurance. We can contact your doctor’s office for the order.
- Your doctor sends the referral. Doctors and discharge planners can send a referral online or by fax.
- Your first visit. A nurse or therapist comes to your home, reviews your needs and checks what personal care help you need.
- Your plan of care. If aide visits fit your needs, your nurse or therapist adds them to the plan your doctor approves and writes the aide’s care plan.
Have questions about help with personal care? Call Making Memories Home Health at (813) 931-0015, Monday through Friday, 8:30 AM to 5:00 PM.
Frequently asked questions
What does a home health aide do?
A home health aide helps with personal care such as bathing, grooming, dressing and moving safely around the home. The aide follows a written care plan from your nurse or therapist and reports changes to the team.
Can I get a home health aide without nursing or therapy?
Not through home health. Aide visits are provided only as part of a plan of care that also includes skilled nursing or therapy, and Medicare does not cover an aide on its own. If you only need help with personal care or housekeeping, ask about our private duty in-home care, which is paid privately.
Does Medicare cover a home health aide?
Medicare can cover part-time or intermittent aide visits when you qualify for home health care and also receive skilled nursing, physical therapy, speech-language therapy or continued occupational therapy. It does not cover 24-hour care or an aide when personal care is the only help you need. Call (813) 931-0015 to verify your coverage.
How do I get a home health aide added to my care?
If you already receive home health care from us, tell your nurse or therapist that bathing or dressing has become hard. If you are just starting, ask your doctor or the hospital discharge planner for a home health referral to Making Memories Home Health, or call (813) 931-0015. Your nurse or therapist decides with your doctor whether aide visits belong in your plan.
How often will the aide visit, and how long do visits last?
Aide visits are part-time and scheduled according to your plan of care. The aide comes for the tasks in the plan and then leaves; home health does not provide 24-hour, overnight or live-in care.
Where we provide home health aide
We visit patients at home in Hillsborough, Polk and Manatee counties, including:
Tampa · Brandon · Riverview · Plant City · Temple Terrace · Lutz · Carrollwood · Town 'n' Country · Lakeland · Winter Haven · Bradenton · Lakewood Ranch
Hillsborough County · Polk County · Manatee County
Insurance we accept
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. See insurance we accept.
Doctors, hospital discharge planners and case managers can send a home health referral by fax to (813) 931-0017. How to refer a patient.
Other services
Making Memories Home Health provides home health care services.
Skilled Nursing · Wound Care · Home IV Therapy · Catheter Care · Medication Management · Physical Therapy · Occupational Therapy · Speech Therapy · Medical Social Work · Medicare Home Health · Home Care & Long-Term Care