HI 00601.440 Part Time or Intermittent Services

Part-time or intermittent services of professional personnel and home health aides is usually service for a few hours a day several times a week. Occasionally, more service; i.e., eight hours, may be provided for a limited period when the physician recommends and, when because of unusual circumstances, neither the alternative of part-time care nor institutionalization is feasible.

Services of professional staff usually are provided less frequently and for shorter periods of time than are the services of home health aides. For physical, speech, and occupational therapists and medical social workers, visit ordinarily should not exceed one hour.

Home health aide visits usually last 1-3 hours a day and generally are provided 2 or 3 times a week.

For the very few ill patients who need extensive personal care services in addition to skilled services, Medicare will pay for part-time medically reasonable and necessary aide services 7 days a week for a short period of time (2-3 weeks). There may also be a few cases involving unusual circumstances where a patient's personal care needs extend beyond 3 weeks. For example, the patient's condition is terminal; they have suffered a relapse which, while requiring more intensive care, either does not necessitate institutionalization or institutionalization cannot immediately be arranged.