Did you know that over 40.3 million residents in the United States are over 65 years of age?
If you have a family member that’s someone over the age of 65, you might be looking into home health care provider options that fit your loved one’s needs and budget. Learning how to choose a home health care provider can be tricky, especially if you’re unsure of what to look for in a provider.
That’s why today, we’ve created this complete guide to help you get a better understanding of how to choose a home health care provider. Keep reading to learn more!
Check Credibility
When choosing a home healthcare provider, one of the most important things you need to consider is the credibility of the business.
By checking the credibility of a home healthcare provider, you’ll help to ensure that you’re getting the best possible care for your loved one. As you’re looking through different healthcare providers, you should look for nurses with valid nursing degrees. You should also check to make sure that the nurses have relevant working experience.
Medicare or Medicaid Certification
Another piece of information that you should look over is if Medicare or Medicaid certifies the home healthcare provider. You may also check to see if they are Joint Commission Accredited. If a home health care provider has a certification for Medicare Medicaid, it means that this business meets the federal and state requirements that are mandatory for high-quality care.
Specialized Services
Many agencies specialize in certain services. Depending on your loved one’s situation, you may need to select a service such as speech therapy, occupational therapy, skilled nursing, physical therapy, or even home health care facility that offers daily activities.
Other specialized services that you may find in a home health care facility include COPD programs or heart failure programs.
Identify Availablity
When you’re searching through for a home health care business, you should observe the staff’s availability. If your loved one has health conditions that make them high-maintenance, you should learn about the staff’s availability.
Investing in a home healthcare agency that’s on call 24/7 can greatly improve the quality of the care your loved one receives if there’s ever a medical emergency.
Personalized Care
When selecting a home health care provider, you should choose a service that will tailor the care of your loved one specifically to their unique needs. This means about the team that will be working with your loved one we’ll need to have input from a doctor before creating a care plan.
Developing a personalized care plan would make it a lot easier for your loved one to get the right care that they need at the right times.
Take A Look At Costs
If you’ve found a home health care provider that you’re interested in hiring, take a look at the costs that come with the service before you invest.
It would help if you had an understanding of what all of the costs of the service are. It would help if you also understood how much your health insurance will cover or how much Medicare will cover.
Also, you should also work with the company to understand if there are any upfront out-of-pocket expenses that need to be covered.
Ask the Agency Questions
Another important step that you need to take after deciding on the home health care provider that you’re looking to work with is to ask the agency questions. You’ll want to complete an interview of the agency to get a good idea of if the services the business is offering are truly a good fit for your loved one.
Some of the questions you may want to ask include:
- How long has the agency provided home health care services?
- Does the agency have a Medicare certification?
- Does the agency have state licensing?
- Can the agency explain what you have to pay for?
- Is the agency able to provide any references?
- What type of services can the agency provide you with?
- Are the specific services that you need able to be provided by the agency?
- How does the agency select and train the employees it has?
- Are there background checks performed on the employees the agency has?
- How does the agency follow up and handle the resolution of problems?
- Is the agency able to provide written statements of the costs, as well as a payment plan, that comes with the care of your loved one?
- Are there caregivers that are available on-call?
Asking these questions to the agency will help you to gather a better understanding of the quality of care that your loved one can expect to see from this business.
Meet With Caregivers
If your loved one has specific caregivers that are going to be working with them, you should meet with the caregivers ahead of time. This will help you to get an understanding of the level of training that the caregiver has. In addition, you’ll also get a feeling for if the caregiver is a good fit for your loved one!
Some caregivers may even allow you to watch their first shift with your loved one. Shadowing the caregiver will give you insight into the process of care the caregiver gives your loved one, which may help to bring you peace of mind.
Understanding How to Choose a Home Health Care Provider
Choosing a home health care provider can be tricky, especially with all of the different provider options on the market. Learning how to choose a home health care provider comes with patience and research.
Are you struggling to find a home health care provider that’s the perfect fit for your loved one? We’re here to help you! Click here to contact us today to learn more about our home health care provider services.
