Los Rios Home Health Care

Information may not be reliable

Los Alamos Visiting Nurse Service, Inc. is a not-for-profit Home Health and Hospice Agency providing "intermittent" Skilled Nursing, Physical Therapy, Occupational Therapy, Speech and Language Pathology, Medical Social Services and Home Health Aides.

The same services are available through our Branch office, Los Rios Home Health Care. Currently, we serve patients in Los Alamos County, northern Santa Fe County, and parts of Rio Arriba County.
Services are provided under written physician orders in your home, under a plan of care developed to meet your individual needs. Visits are routinely scheduled Monday through Friday between 8 and 5 and on weekends as medically necessary. An RN is available on call after regular office hours.

Most Home Health Care is covered by private insurance, employers insurance, Medicare and Medicaid.
The agency is federally certified, State licensed and approved by most private insurance companies.
We are members of the New Mexico Association of Home Health Agencies, The National Hospice and Palliative Care Organization, and are members of the United Way of Northern New Mexico serving Los Alamos and Rio Arriba Counties.
We provide many community services including blood pressure clinics, participation in health fairs, volunteer education programs through local churches, volunteer training and support groups.
We are proud of our response to the communities we serve and our ability to maintain high standards of quality care which has become our trademark.

Hospice is a special way of caring for terminally ill people, their families and their caregivers.
Most people do not want to die alone in sterile, impersonal surroundings, hooked up by tubes to machines and cut off from their family and friends and everything that is familiar. Nor do they want to die in pain. They would prefer, if possible, to spend their last days at home...alert and free of pain...among the people and things they love. Hospice makes this possible.
Hospice treats the physical needs of patients and their emotional and spiritual needs. Care is provided primarily in the home and concentrates on making patients as free of pain and as comfortable as they want to be so that they can make the most of the time that remains to them.
In our great-grandparents time, birth and death were commonplace in the family home and accepted as natural events. Bringing death out into the open and making sickness and loss a time of sharing and remembrance is difficult. And while the Hospice experience is not for every one, those who choose Hospice find the specialness of caring for a loved one and the richness of sharing memories of youth, trials and joys a rewarding experience never to be forgotten.
No job is too big or too small for the Hospice team. It helps in every way it can.
Care may include:

Matters of personal cleanliness and coordination of necessary medical equipment

Though Hospice, professionals and volunteers are there to help; they encourage patients to be as active and to do as much for themselves as possible.
Hospice care is provided by an interdisciplinary team that accepts the end of life, and supports the patient, family and care givers in a compassionate manner.
Under the direction of the patient's physician, the following services are provided:

Volunteers play an extremely important role in Hospice. Without them it would be difficult to carry on the work. Many are relatives or friends of former Hospice Patients who, having seen how Hospice can help, want to contribute to its good work. Volunteers undergo a rigorous training program in order to participate in the program. We call them our "Golden Thread."
When a Medicare-eligible patient receives services from an approved Hospice, Medicare pays almost the entire cost as does Medicaid. Most private insurance companies have a Hospice benefit similar to the Medicare coverage. Calling Hospice is not "giving up" ... it is the opposite.
Hospice believes "You matter to the last moment of your life, and we will do all we can, not only to help you die peacefully, but to live until you die." For further information on our Hospice program please call (505) 662-2525.

Visit the National Hospice and Palliative Care Organization web site for additional information about Hospice.

The HomMed Home Monitoring System provides users with the comfort and independence of staying at home and the security of daily monitoring and proper medical attention.

The HomMed Monitor and the HomMed Central Station
The HomMed Home Monitoring System is a simple-to-use, cost-effective way to monitor people with chronic illnesses and those desiring the security of "someone watching over them" within the comfort of their own homes.
The HomMed System is comprised of two main components: the Monitor, which collects and transmits data from the patient, and the Central Station, which receives the data, stores it and presents it to clinical personnel for monitoring and trending. The HomMed System, used properly, along with adherence to diet, medication and a healthy lifestyle, can dramatically improve the quality of life for people who suffer from chronic illnesses and other health conditions.
Critical Safeguards & Intervention
The HomMed Central Station is designed to do more than just track the patient. It establishes an intervention system that identifies and reacts to the potential problems associated with chronic illnesses and other health conditions.
Each patient is set up with a baseline of appropriate vital sign measurements and alarm limits. If the patient doesn't respond to the Monitor's voice reminder, an alert will signal the Central Station and the reviewing clinician to call the patient and ask about the patient's well-being and to determine why the signs weren't reported. The patient's monitored data is stored and can be graphically displayed for trending and analysis of the patient's response to treatment and care. Reports can be sent to the patient's primary care physician for further review.
If a patient's measurements fall outside the set limits, the Central Station will notify the monitoring personnel by flashing a red alert. The patient's primary physician will then be notified via phone or fax.

Who is Lifeline? For over 20 years, Lifeline has been North America's leading personal response service.
Our goal is to give you the confidence to continue to live independently in your own home—doing things for yourself. We do this by ensuring that you know whenever you need help, it's just a button push away.
To call for help, you simply press the Personal Help Button you wear as a pendant or on a wristband. The Personal Help Button activates a small in-home communicator that automatically dials the Lifeline Response Center. Within seconds, your call will be answered by one of our caring, highly-trained operators (we call them Lifeline Monitors). You will never be asked to talk to a machine.
Whatever you need, we will respond quickly. All your important information is immediately available to the Monitor answering your call, so the type of help you need is quickly determined—and we make sure you get it.
Our communicators have a highly sensitive speakerphone that lets the Monitor speak to you, even if you can't get to the phone. And, if you press your Personal Help Button but cannot speak, your Lifeline Monitor will quickly send help.
For further information, please call us at (505) 662-2525.
CAUTION: Choosing Your Help Button
It is important that you and your caregiver choose the Personal Help Button most suitable for you. Please consider the following:

The Classic and Slimline Pendants are worn around the neck; this helps make the button accessible by either of your hands. NOTE: the Pendant's neck cord is not designed to break away. Therefore, it can pose a choking risk, particularly to wearers in wheelchairs, using walkers, using beds with guard rails, or otherwise near protruding objects upon which the cord can become tangled. Wearers for whom this is a concern may wish to consider the Wrist style button.

The Slimline Wristband and Tempo Watch are worn around your wrist. In circumstances where the user's arm that is not wearing the pendant becomes immobilized (examples: due to stroke or arm being trapped under a heavy object), this can present a risk that the user will be unable to press the button.

Please consult your caregiver or Lifeline Program on which Help Button style is most appropriate for you.