Provider Types

The following is a brief definition of the various kinds of providers represented in the CareMinds database.

• Skilled Nursing, also known as Nursing Home or Rest Home, is a place of residence for the elderly who require constant nursing care and have significant deficiencies with activities of daily living (ADLs). Almost all Skilled Nursing facilities are covered by Medicare and/or Medicaid.
• Assisted Living residences, also known as Residential Care Home, provide supervision or assistance with activities of daily living (ADLs), such as meal preparation, dressing, bathing and mobility. Assistance may include the administration of medication, and many Assisted Living residences provide care for seniors with dementia or Alzheimer's. Assisted Living residences do not typically provide the level of continuous nursing care found in Skilled Nursing facilities and the vast majority are private pay with limited or no government assistance.
• Home Health Care is a formal, regulated program of care delivered by a variety of health care professionals in the client's home. Professional Home Health services include medical or psychological assessment, wound care, pain management, disease management, physical therapy, speech therapy, occupational therapy. A Home Health Care provider may also render life assistance services, including meal preparation, medication reminders, laundry, light housekeeping, errands, shopping, transportation and companionship.
• Home Care, also known as custodial care, render services in the client's home. These services include life assistance services, including meal preparation, medication reminders, laundry, light housekeeping, errands, shopping, transportation and companionship. Home Care does not include professional health care services. For in-home professional health care services, see Home Health Care.
• Hospice is a place residence which focuses on the palliation of a terminally ill patient's symptoms. Hospice care is made available to patients with any terminal prognosis who are medically certified to have less than six months to live.
• A Geriatric Care Manager provides consultative assistance to the elderly and their families related to elder care. Most GCM have backgrounds in social work, nursing, counseling, gerontology or physical therapy.