American Premier Home Health Care

10/09/2026

Two months, September and October, is the window the CDC calls ideal for a flu shot, and Phoenix is right in the middle of it. For most people a mild case means a rough week. For an older adult managing a chronic illness at home, or anyone with a weakened immune system, flu can mean a hospital stay. CDC recommends annual flu vaccination for everyone 𝟲 𝗺𝗼𝗻𝘁𝗵𝘀 and older, and says it matters just as much for the people who live with or care for someone at higher risk. That includes family caregivers and the clinicians who come through the door for home visits. If a loved one receiving home-based care hasn't had this season's shot yet, there's still time, talk to their care team or primary care provider about scheduling one.

10/07/2026

Three in the morning, wide awake again, running on no sleep: that stretch is familiar to most hospice caregivers. What fewer families realize is that respite care is already built into the Medicare hospice benefit, not a favor to request. It lets the patient move to an approved inpatient facility for up to 5 consecutive days so the person caring for them can rest, travel, or simply sleep through the night. It can be used again later in the benefit period if the need returns. American Premier Hospice coordinates respite stays for families across the Phoenix metro as a standard part of hospice care. If caregiving has reached that point, ask the care team about it.

10/05/2026

Choosing hospice is not the same as giving up on care. Palliative care and hospice both treat pain and symptoms rather than trying to cure an illness, but they serve different moments: palliative care can start at diagnosis, alongside ongoing treatment, while hospice begins once a person and their physician decide to stop treating the illness itself and focus entirely on comfort. The shift from one to the other is rarely sudden. It usually follows months of conversations between a patient, their family, and the clinicians who know them, about what matters most as a serious illness progresses. American Premier Hospice supports that second stage, caring for patients and families across Phoenix metro and Maricopa County under the Medicare hospice benefit. For referral partners, knowing where that line falls can make it easier to raise the conversation before a crisis forces it.

10/02/2026

Home health work doesn't run nine to five, and for a lot of clinicians, that's the appeal. American Premier Home Health staffs PRN and flexible-schedule positions for RNs, LPNs, physical and occupational therapists, and home health aides across the Phoenix metro, built around patient visits rather than a fixed shift. PRN means picking up visits as they're available, not a guaranteed caseload. It suits people who want variety in their day and the ability to build a schedule around other commitments. Current clinical openings are listed below.

See current career opportunities that are available at American Premier Home Health

09/30/2026

What happens when the person doing the caregiving runs out of reserves before the patient does? Medicare's hospice benefit has an answer built in: respite care, a short inpatient stay, capped at five consecutive days at a time, that exists specifically to give a family caregiver a break. It is meant to be used before someone reaches a breaking point, not after, whether that means a few days to rest, travel for a family event, or recover from an illness of their own. Respite is arranged through the hospice team, and Medicare covers the stay, with a small coinsurance amount for room and board. Caregiving without any relief is not a realistic long-term plan, and this part of the benefit exists because Medicare built the expectation of relief into hospice care from the start. American Premier Hospice includes respite planning as part of every family's care plan from day one.

Per the CMS hospice benefit policy manual, current requirements verified today.

09/28/2026

A referral does not need to be complicated to fall apart at intake. What Medicare actually requires before home health can start comes down to three things: a physician has seen the patient and ordered the care, the patient meets the homebound definition, and there is a genuine skilled need such as nursing, physical therapy, or speech-language pathology, not simply a preference to recover at home. Homebound does not mean housebound. It means leaving takes considerable effort and assistance, or is not medically advisable, with room for exceptions like medical appointments or religious services. Referrals that already spell out those three pieces move through intake faster, with fewer calls back to the sending clinician. American Premier Home Health checks every referral against this standard before scheduling a start of care date, and we are glad to talk through a specific case with the clinician who knows the patient.

Source and reporting period: current Medicare home health coverage criteria, verified today.

Home health is a wide range of health care services that you can get in your home for an illness or injury.

09/24/2026

A nurse walks in with a bag, a laptop, and a list of questions, not a script. That's roughly what the first home health visit looks like: a review of every medication in the house, a walk through fall and safety risks, vital signs, and a look at exactly what the referring physician ordered. From there, the nurse builds a written plan of care and schedules whatever specific visits the orders call for, whether that's skilled nursing, physical therapy, or another discipline. Families are part of that conversation from the start, not observers of it. American Premier Home Health serves Phoenix metro and Maricopa County under Medicare's home health rules, which require a physician's order and a documented skilled need.

Home health is a wide range of health care services that you can get in your home for an illness or injury.

09/21/2026

Six months is not a deadline. It's a prognosis estimate, and Medicare has always allowed hospice recertification beyond that window as long as the patient still meets terminal illness criteria: two 90 day benefit periods followed by unlimited 60 day periods, each requiring physician recertification. Referral partners sometimes hesitate to refer a patient who's passed the six month mark, assuming the window has closed. It hasn't. Per CMS's April 2026 Hospice Monitoring Report, 𝟭𝟳.𝟲% of hospice beneficiaries nationally had lifetime stays longer than 180 days in FY 2025. If a patient's condition continues to decline and still meets criteria, American Premier Hospice's admissions team can walk through the documentation needed for recertification at any point in that patient's care.

09/18/2026

A hospice plan of care is only as strong as the team behind it, and Medicare requires that team to include more than a nurse.

Every hospice patient on the Medicare benefit has access to an interdisciplinary group: a physician, a registered nurse, a social worker, a chaplain or counselor, plus home health aide and volunteer services. These disciplines meet on a regular schedule to review each patient's plan of care together, not in separate lanes.

RNs, social workers, chaplains, and home health aides who want that kind of coordinated role can see current hospice openings in the Phoenix market at ap-phx.com/careers.

09/17/2026

Hospice can be a hard word to hear — but it's built entirely around comfort, dignity, and quality of life, not the absence of care. 💙
When a life-limiting illness reaches the point where the focus shifts from curative treatment to comfort, our hospice team steps in with a full circle of support: pain and symptom management from RNs, spiritual and emotional support from chaplains and social workers, hands-on help from aides, and guidance for family caregivers every step of the way.
Hospice isn't about giving up — it's about making the time that remains as peaceful and meaningful as possible, for the patient and the people who love them.
If you have questions about whether hospice might be the right conversation for your family, we're here to talk it through, no obligation.