Thank you to all who replied. I found the most practitioners do home visits, but some would rather not. I have posted the responses below.
Original message,
Our company is fine tuning it’s “home visit” policy. I’m trying to
ascertain the home visit policy of other facilities. What are you
willing to fit at home vs. what must be fit in the office with parallel
bars. Thank you in advance.
Responses,
I suppose that practicing in an a city or densely populated area calls for
different protocol regarding what you are willing or able to do at a
patients home. I have been seeing clients in their home for the past 30
years in the rural bucolic regions of Maine and can readily perform any
orthotic or prosthetic procedure that I can do in my office save casting for
a spinal and there are ways to achieve that goal too.
For me it is pleasing my referral sources and the community. It does take
some time to establish exactly what items you will need for any given task
to be preformed on a house call but again, that will come with experience.
Common sense rules.
Good luck with your “home visit” policy.
Home visits are often a hot topic. I don’t know of any Orthotist or
Prosthetist that prefers to do home visits purely from a “controlled
environment” standpoint. In many cases it is a security risk to the
practitioner. When we are asked to do a home visit we are under the
assumption that the patient has had a proper home evaluation by the P.T.
and all necessary items are in place. If the home is lacking what you
require then you most certainly have justification for the patient to
come to the office. Often times the patients will state they can’t come
to the office but the reality is that “can’t” means “don’t want to”.
Insurances do pay for transportation to medical offices.
Nothing is more frustrating to have a patient on Home Health say they
can’t have you come to their home today because they are going to the
doctors office that is 50 yards down the road from your facility.
Typically off the shelf items that can be predictably fit in one visit. Do
you charge?
We visit Clients that are unable to drive to our office whether it be assisted living, skilled Nursing, Hospital, Hospice etc. We will perform most adjustments that can be done outside the facility including thermal recountouring, strap replacements, etc. as you become more proficient in problems outside the office you learn to anticipate the majority of them and hopefully prepare for them. If we get a Client that is demanding with custom shapes, trim lines, etc. we will insist that they come to our office.
