How to Choose a Senior Home Care Agency
Most of us hope we will never be faced with the need for senior care services for ourselves or a loved one. It is in the same category as “fire and flood insurance” – something that happens to other people. However, we still buy it, just in case. And then we forget about it. The reality is, tornadoes do hit. And the best insurance, as they say, is preparation.
Life expectancy rates are increasing (a newborn today in the U.S.A. has a life-expectancy of age 100), and with advances in medical care, Americans are living longer than ever before. While Medicare does provide for health care services for seniors, it does not provide for long-term care services.
Because of this, many seniors opt for senior care services in their own home, especially if only part-time care services are needed. This is often the situation after major surgery or when an age-related disease begins to develop, such as Alzheimer’s or Parkinson’s Disease.
How do you know where to turn for quality senior home care?
As a former owner of a senior home care agency for 7 years, I have found that you can easily separate the wheat from the chaff by following a few guidelines when choosing an agency.
First, make sure the agency hires their Caregivers as employees. This provides you with the added benefits of Worker’s Compensation Insurance and Unemployment Insurance. These are both considered part of payroll taxes and are included in your fee. There are many stories about families who hired Caregivers and then discovered later that they were responsible for taxes that were not paid or sued for an injury a Caregiver suffered while providing care services. A Senior Home Care Agency takes responsibility for the liability for any on-the-job injuries as the employer and provides for all payroll taxes as a professional business. The Senior Home Care Agency will also provide Fidelity Bond Insurance which will protect you in the event of theft. The agency must follow certain procedures when hiring in order to maintain these valuable insurance coverages (background checks, active supervision and training will be required). By having these procedures in place, safety and quality can be maintained.
Next, make sure the Senior Home Care Agency provides regular “check-in” visits on the care services. A quality agency will have a Nurse Care Manager or Supervisor stop by to make sure the client and Caregiver are a good match and that all the care needs are being met. The frequency of these visits will depend upon the number of hours of care provided each week. You should expect check-in visits to occur every two-weeks under full-time care.
Finally, make sure the agency creates and manages a “Plan of Care” for the senior. This will include details on a daily routine and the job duties for the Caregiver.
Be sure to stay very involved with the agency during the first month of service to make sure the caregiver and the senior are getting along and communicating their needs.
If you do not live in the same city as the senior who needs care or if your family and career obligations prevent you from being available for day-time doctor appointments, you may want to consider hiring a Geriatric Care Manager.
Watch the video related to home care
Proud Heart gets a present unknowingly from No Heart which floods the Care Bear Cousins out of house and home. For more episode of Care Bears, visit kidmango.com. kidmango.com: It’s TV for YOU Anytime!
Help answer the question about home care
How to star-up a home care respiratory Company. My goal is calling on Dr. offices to set-up patience on O2.?I worked as a medical account executive. I called on Dr's offices and I set-up patience on O2. So I have experience. But I don't know what do I need to open my own home care respiratory co. The paper work and etc… Can you help me?
Hi there – so sorry to hear about your mom. In home care is much more expensive than an assisted living or a nursing home. The prices I am familiar with are from 3 years ago in the Los Angeles, California area. The nurses cost between $200.00 and $300.00 a day – and they expect to be paid at the end of a shift on a daily basis.
Medicaid will only pay for a Nurses Assistant a couple of hours a week. Some people have insurance to pay for in home care – other than that it is very expensive to keep a loved home at home who needs 24 hour care, unless another loved one provides the care for free.
Wishing you every good luck with this.
http://www.elderhomecarelink.com is the answer
A home health care provider may only care for your mother. Please do not expect her to be your personal maid, cook, valet and servant. Any unusual requests will be relayed to your mother's insurance and she may lose her home health care privilege.
http://www.hospice.com
Barton Home Care – by far one of the best in-home care companies in the Denver metro area.
Very compelling video Tom. Despite the challenge of “capturing” the care and concern you show your clients in a 2 minute video – you managed to do it. Impressive – just like your service. Jinah Kim
Medicare.gov could help if he's eligible. There are services availble, sometimes 24/7. I do not know where you live so I can't find any for you.
He could deduct the expense as a medical expense which is limited to 7.5% of his adjusted gross income. Unless his income is low or the expense high, he won't get full use of the deduction. Also, your sister will have to declare the payments as income on her return.
You sister can claim him as a dependent if she is providing more than 50% of his support (in money terms). She could be head of household if she is not married.
I found this video to be very helpful and I was able to get much more information about Barton Home Care by exploring its excellent website.
Nice video. I’m looking for help for both my mother and father. Will give Tom a call today.
I would like to do this same thing. You will need a Medicare and Medicaid ID number to bill them. You will need to get on the list or in network with as many insurance companies as you can. You will need to buy and stock oxygen tanks and contract with a company to fill them for you.
Some states require you to have an RT or RN on staff, others don't. Some states require you to be accredited with one of many organizations. The best known is Joint Commission.
You will need a store to operate out of, office supplies, phone, Internet access (to bill medicare) and a vehicle.
Good luck.
Excellent overview of the service provided and the integrity of this company. I would definitely trust my parents’ care to Barton Home Care.
I work at a Home Day Care here in Illinois. I know that the provider charges 215 a week for a full time infant. Day care Centers charge 230 I think? Toddlers are 200 a week full time and Preschool are 150 a week full time. I believe she charges by the hour for those parents who only want to come part time…but I'm not sure what that would be.
Good Luck! I'm hoping to someday open a home day care of my own.
Start with your states licensing department. They will let you know what kind of licenses you will need, then go from there. Good Luck
I think Tom Barton has an excellent gift of understanding seniors – their needs and wants and then doing a great match with a companion. I would trust my parents to Barton Home Care and would recommend them to any of my friends. Their lives will be fullfilled in many ways to be able to stay in their own homes and have a routine that they like. We all prefer our own homes over the alternatives.
meredithstacy