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Pediatric Home Service
Based in Roseville, Minnesota, Pediatric Home Service (PHS) is an independent home health care company specializing in children. They are driven by the belief that even if a child’s legs are wheels or her lungs are controlled by a machine, that child wants to be a “kid.” That child wants to do all the typical kid things, whether it’s going to school, playing with the dog, or talking, laughing, and bickering with a sibling – and they want to do it at home. The support, resources, and technology provided by PHS, including complex respiratory and infusion therapies and use of the Passy Muir® Valve, makes this possible.
PHS assigns a primary respiratory therapist to coordinate equipment and services for each child with high-tech needs. Medical support from PHS respiratory therapists is available 24 hours a day, every day of the year. A child’s primary respiratory therapist also works to ensure clear communication between the child’s family and the child’s medical team. Everyone at PHS – including respiratory therapists, infusion and private duty nurses, pharmacists, dietitians, clinical social workers, educators and support staff – understands the varying needs of infants, children, and adolescents and are fully dedicated to their care and comfort.
Recognized as an industry leader, PHS has been accredited since 1994 by The Joint Commission, the nation’s leading body for setting the highest standards for health care quality and safety. They track and make available outcome data to prove PHS kids really do thrive. PHS has nearly 250 patients with tracheostomy at home and over 140 on mechanical ventilation. On average, 30% of these patients are actively using the Passy Muir Valve. A vast majority of their non-neurologic children successfully wean from their ventilators. The therapists and clinicians at PHS have witnessed many benefits of the Passy Muir Valve for these children. They have watched them learn to vocalize and develop speech and language.
They have enjoyed seeing their patients communicate more effectively with their families and loved ones. When children hear their own voice, it lifts their spirits! Children using the Valve also have better control of their glottis, which results in better swallowing and success with overcoming oral aversion issues and initiating oral intake. The Valve increases a child’s ability to generate a stronger cough and manage tracheal secretions, resulting in a decreased need for suctioning by their caregivers.
PHS has an extensive educational program designed specifically to train home nursing staff on the use of Passy Muir Valve, trach tubes, ventilators, ancillary equipment, infusion therapy techniques, equipment, and nutritional support. Newly hired PHS private duty nurses go through a minimum of 50 hours of training PRIOR to a home assignment. An in-home preceptor will then spend additional time with each new hire to ensure each has mastered the skill level needed to safely care for the very technically dependent child in the home.
Policies and Procedures
Click here to download Pediatric Home Service’s Passy Muir Valve Trial Protocol
Click here to download Pediatric Home Service’s Passy Muir Valve Trials Log Sheet
Click here to download Pediatric Home Service’s Passy Muir Work Instructions
