Coping with Chronic Health Conditions: Tips

Infusion Therapy: Getting The Most Out Of Your At Home Healthcare Services

22 September 2014 by Freddie Cox

Approximately 7.6 million Americans require some form of at home healthcare services. To qualify for at home healthcare services, patients must require intermittent skilled nursing care, physical therapy, speech-language pathology services or continued occupational therapy. In addition, patients must be certified homebound by a physician. To take full advantage of your at home healthcare services, consider the possibility of getting infusion therapy, particularly if oral medications are no longer effective. This article will explain what infusion therapy is, the diseases that are treated by infusion therapy, and what your at home healthcare provider is responsible for.

What Is Infusion Therapy? 

Infusion therapy involves the administration of medications intravenously or through other non-oral routes, such as through intramuscular injections and epidural routes. The injections are made with either a needle or a catheter, so the medications are infused directly into a vein. Generally speaking, infusion therapy is recommended for patients who are not reacting efficiently to oral medications, and to patients who are struggling with severe conditions. 

What Diseases Can Be Treated With This Type of Therapy?

Infusion therapies normally utilize antibiotics, chemotherapy drugs, nutrients, pain medications, among many others. Due to its versatile nature, infusion therapy is suitable for treating a wide range of disease, such as:

• conditions that are unresponsive to oral antibiotics
• cancer
• dehydration
• gastrointestinal conditions and diseases
• congestive heart failures
• Crohn's Disease
• hemophilia
• rheumatoid arthritis
• multiple sclerosis
• immune deficiencies

The most common usage of infusion therapy will be for prescribing antibiotics intravenously. Antibiotics are used for diagnosing sepsis, cellulitis, osteomyelitis, pneumonia and urinary tract infections.

What Should You Expect From Your At Home Healthcare Provider?

If you are interested in the benefits that infusion therapy that home healthcare providers offer, you should consult with a medical professional immediately. Keep in mind that not all at home healthcare providers are certified and qualified for performing infusion therapy due to the medical knowledge that the provider needs to possess. Your at home healthcare provider will be responsible for:

• assessing your health status in order to determine whether infusion therapy will be more effective than the treatment methods that you are currently relying on. Studies have shown that medications and nutrients that are injected through infusion therapy tend to reach their target level of nutrient or medication concentration more rapidly, and that they also maintained the level for much longer. 
• discussing allergy concerns and possible reactions. Most at home healthcare providers may perform an allergy test ahead of time in order to minimize chances of reactions happening. If you have trouble breathing or begin developing rashes and hives, you will need to alert the providers immediately.
• checking for correct prescriptions and dosages before administering. The providers are also responsible for making sure that the prescriptions have yet to expire.
• discussing proper storage techniques for both the medications and the equipment. Most healthcare providers will help you store both. Infusion items need to be placed in leak-proof containers.
• ensuring that the equipment functions properly, and is administering proper dosage as directed by a physician. Most healthcare providers will fully inspect the equipment each time before using it.
• supplying an emergency contact number, so that he or she can provide you with immediate medical services should any problems arise.

Conclusion

If you require at home healthcare services and have not been responding well to other treatment methods, infusion therapy may be just what you are looking for in order to obtain a quick recovery. Infusion therapy has been regarded as one of the most efficient and effective methods of administering medications, nutrients, antibiotics and other prescriptions with most patients responding quite well to the treatments. 

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