Home Health vs. Home Care: What's the Difference (and Why It Matters)

Home health care is skilled, physician-ordered medical care — nursing visits, wound care, physical therapy — typically covered by Medicare, Medicaid, or insurance because it's clinically necessary. Home care (or companion care) is non-medical support — companionship, light housekeeping, meal prep — usually private-pay.

The distinction matters for referrals: a patient discharged after surgery with a wound-care need requires home health, not a companion. A senior who's medically stable but needs help with errands and meals needs companion care, not a skilled nursing visit that insurance won't reimburse anyway.

We run both service lines specifically so referral sources don't have to guess which category a patient falls into — we assess the need and route to the right service, sometimes both at once.