Both provide health services; their authority is not the same.

When a loved one needs an IV drip, an injection or a wound dressing at home, the first thing that comes to mind is often the nearest health booth. Health booths meet an important everyday need, but the responsibility for treatment continued at home requires a different structure. Here we summarise the limits of each service and how to tell them apart.

What Does a Health Booth Do?

Health booths are units set up for simple procedures based on a prescription, such as injections, wound dressings and blood pressure measurement.

According to our association’s assessment, health booth staff are not authorised to start an IV drip at home on their own.

Whose Job Is Home Health Care?

Treatment continued at home is the work of a home health center licensed by the Ministry of Health, a responsible physician who manages the process, and registered staff. In this structure:

• The service is provided by a licensed home health center.
• The process is managed by a responsible physician.
• IV drips, injections, dressings and follow-up are done on a physician’s order and recorded.

How Can You Tell Them Apart?

Ask these three questions before receiving care:

1. License: Does the organisation hold a home health care license?
2. Responsible physician: Is there a doctor managing the procedure?
3. Records and contract: Is the procedure recorded, and are you given a written contract?

OBSAD’s Warning

A simple procedure at a booth and treatment continued at home are not the same thing. An institution must be responsible for treatment at home. Entrust your loved ones’ care to home health centers backed by a license, a responsible physician and a record system.