At times it happens that a patient requires to be hospitalized because of some disease, illness, or injury; the treatment of which would exceed three days. But owing to a certain set of circumstances, the patient cannot be admitted to a nursing home or hospital for the required treatment. The circumstances that may result in such situations may include:
- The condition of the patient is such that moving them to a hospital or nursing home is not possible.
- There is a lack of accommodation at the nursing home or hospital, because of which the patient is refused admission.
- Some conditions (critical illnesses) are so far drawn out that it is impractical to keep a patient admitted at a hospital for treatment. Such diseases are also referred to as domiciliary diseases.
In such cases, the treatment of the patient is to be carried on whilst they are confined to their homes. So, Domiciliary Hospitalization refers to the treatment that a patient undergoes at home due to assorted reasons. This kind of treatment is opted for, based on the treating doctor’s recommendation and the merits of the case.
Domiciliary Expenses
Even though a patient is not admitted to the hospital, they are still being treated for their disease, illness or injury. Whether they cannot be shifted to the hospital, the hospital lacks accommodation, or they have domiciliary diseases, getting treatment at home too will cost them money. What people at most times fail to realize is that even domiciliary hospitalization charges are covered under most medical insurance policies. This benefit is so rarely used in making claims because most people are not even aware of its inclusion.
The insurance companies mostly require a number of conditions that need to be met before domiciliary expense claims are approved. For example, a claim for domiciliary expenses will mean that the insured will not get post-hospitalization expenses. These charges also exclude treatments pertaining to certain ailments like asthma, common cold, fever, etc. for obvious reasons. Mostly, domiciliary expenses also have sub-limits imposed on them, depending on the medical insurance.
Attendants
Some treatments that are done as domiciliary hospitalization also require the presence of a nurse or attendant to help the doctor keep an eye on the progress of the patient. Mostly, the charges for the attendant are also covered under the patient’s medical insurance, but it falls to the doctor to legitimize the merits of the claim and requirement.
Lastly, the non-availability of beds at a hospital and the patient’s condition being too severe to warrant displacement to a hospital are rather rare occurrences; hence, domiciliary treatment is mostly undertaken for people with such domiciliary diseases that require treatment for an extended period.