Home health care can include many different services. While the services may differ, they all have in common the fact that they are delivered to the patient at his or her home. The patient may be recovering from recent surgery or illness and need medical checkups or wound care, or may be a disabled patient who received physical or occupational therapy at home. In general, the care needed is more skilled than can be provided by the family or friends of the patient, and the patient prefers to stay home rather than enter a nursing facility.

Home care suppliers vary depending on the kind of services they provide.

Home health agencies provide skilled care from physicians, nurses and trained therapists. For instance, a home health agency nurse might visit a woman who has just given birth and her new baby to do a well-baby...