Piedmont Home Health Services
Piedmont Athens Regional is a Medicare certified skilled home care agency and is licensed to provide skilled professional care in the home setting. Services include:
Home Health Aides
Home health aides help patients with personal care, including hygiene, exercises and movement as instructed by registered nurses or therapists. Home health aides are provided intermittently for a short term to help patients on the path to recovery. Piedmont Home Health does not provide sitter services nor personal care assistants. For more information about the availability of these services, contact the Athens Community Council on Aging.
Home IV Therapy (Home Infusion)
Piedmont Home Infusion Services operates as a retail pharmacy for intravenous therapy in the home. The pharmacy provides IV antibiotics, total parenteral nutrition, corticosteroids, chemotherapy, fluid therapy and other intermittent infusions ordered by a patient's physician. Our courteous and trained professionals work toward the highest standards in medication preparation and mixing. You do not have to be admitted to Piedmont to benefit from our home infusion pharmacy services, but the coordination of care is much improved by also choosing Piedmont Home Health. For more information about our Home Infusion service, call 706-475-5563.
In-Home Telemonitoring
Piedmont Home Health is dedicated to helping our patients improve their health and achieve greater independence. For patients with heart failure, our innovative home telemonitoring program is there. Our home telemonitoring program allows a nurse to view the patient's vital signs every day. The patient takes his blood pressure, pulse, chest fluid status, and weight in his own home, using our equipment. The results are then sent through the phone line to a computer in our office. A nurse reads these vital signs each day and calls the patient when needed. This service does not replace our regular home visits. Our nurses still visit all of our patients in their homes. Home telemonitoring simply allows us to give patients attention every day and alerts us to the need to call the doctor. This level of attention and concern is what sets us apart from other home health agencies.
Nutrition Consultation
Registered dietitians are available for in-home consultation. They help adapt diets to health needs, encouraging faster recovery and healthier outlooks.
Occupational Therapy, Physical Therapy and Speech Therapy
- Physical Therapists: Physical therapists assess and evaluate the effects illness and injury have had on the patient's mobility. They provide exercises to restore movement and strength, teach exercises, gait training and precautions to patients, their families and caregivers. Home safety and fall reduction programs are a focus of the therapy program. Our therapists are also highly skilled in providing therapy following knee and hip replacement therapy. Piedmont Athens Regional Home Health physical therapists have close links to Regional Rehabilitation to coordinate transition of the patient's care from the home setting to the outpatient arena at the appropriate time.
- Occupational Therapists: Our home health occupational therapists provide therapy for upper extremity function, including range of motion, strength and coordination, which may have been impacted by illness or injury. We also provide neuromuscular and cognitive training following strokes. Our therapists work closely with patients, families, caregivers and other home health team members to assess the patient's home environment to improve safety during the provision of care to the patient. Recommendations on the most appropriate equipment to assist with patient care are a key service provided. Occupational therapists provide interventions for independence with medication management and train patients and caregivers how to adapt and safety perform daily activities such as bathing, toileting, dressing and feeding.
- Speech Therapy: Speech language therapists evaluate, diagnose and treat speech, language, cognitive communication and swallowing disorders.
Skilled Nursing
Our registered professional nurses assess the patient's condition, providing feedback to the patient's doctor and coordinating care with other healthcare providers, such as therapists, wound specialists and home health aides. Nurses teach the patient, family and caregivers how to manage care, including wound care, medications, disease management and intravenous therapy. In most cases, this is a short term plan. Our skilled care nurses will visit several times a week for a short period, depending on the patient's individual needs. Athens Regional Home Health also has nurses fluent in Spanish and French.
Social Work Services
Our medical social workers assess the social and emotional needs of the patient following illness or injury. They are experts in knowing what services insurance providers will cover and in connecting patients with the most appropriate community resources based on the patient's needs. In addition, medical social workers provide counseling services when needed to assist the patient and family cope with the changes brought on by illness or injury.
Wound, Ostomy and Continence Therapy
Our certified Wound Ostomy nurse is an expert in the most appropriate and up-to-date care for wound and ostomy patients. The wound nurse makes joint visits with the patient's primary home care nurse to evaluate the patient and to make recommendations on the best products and treatment procedures to help the patient improve quickly and cost effectively. This nurse also works closely with physicians and staff of the outpatient wound clinic to coordinate care and make rapid changes to treatment regimens when the need arises. In addition, the wound nurse coordinates care from the inpatient setting to the home, ensuring the patient's needs are met quickly and accurately.