In Home Care

It can be tempting to hire a private caregiver at first glance, because their hourly wage may initially seem more affordable than a home care agency’s quote. Beware, there is a big difference between using a home care agency versus a private caregiver.

What seems more affordable at the outset can cost you in both monetary – and emotional ways – further down the road.

5 Benefits of Working With a Home Care Agency

Here are some of the invaluable benefits of working with a licensed, established and experienced home care agency that you can’t get when you hire private caregivers on your own.

1. Full criminal background and DMV checks are run for you

Running a thorough criminal background and DMV check doesn’t come cheap, and you are on your own if you work with newspaper ads and craigslist posts to find a qualified caregiver.

Home care agencies take care of all of that work for you, and they maintain current and updated records on each employee (which they should provide immediately upon request). This saves you the time, money and hassle of running independent checks on multiple caregivers during the hiring process.

These checks are essential to protecting the safety, privacy, and wellbeing of the client.

2. Unlimited caregiving abilities and resources customized to your needs

Hiring one or two private caregivers may seem sufficient at first, particularly if you only require respite care from time to time. What happens though when one of them calls in sick, is unwell or has a sick child/family member for an extended period, or when your loved one’s caregiving needs escalate with time?

A caregiving agency prepares for all of the above. We have enough staff to ensure your caregiving shifts are covered, even if the regular caregiver needs to call in sick or take a personal day. All of the caregivers are highly-trained and qualified to adjust their caregiving services as clients need them, or we can add more skilled caregivers to the rotation if needed.

3. You may be reimbursed by Medicare or health insurance carriers

There are specific scenarios where Medicare or private insurance picks up all or a portion of the costs associated with a patient’s home care. In these instances, insurance carriers require homecare services are provided by a Medicare-approved agency. That can mean paying out of pocket for your independent caregiver or having to start from scratch and find a caregiving agency to alleviate costs.

Working with a Mecicare-approved home care agency at the outset makes things much easier if a medical diagnosis, procedure, or other occurrence qualifies for home care coverage or reimbursement.

4. Have you thought about paid vacation, sick days, and employee health insurance?

So, let’s say your private caregiver charges $13/hour, but the homecare agency quotes somewhere closer to $20/hour. At first, it seems like the private caregiver is the way to go to respect a conservative budget. However, states are increasingly enforcing health benefits, paid time off and/or other forms of benefits compensation for privately hired employees such as caregivers or nannies.

Thus, you’ll find that the agency’s quoted price is far less expensive than paying an independent caregiver’s wages as well as the additional benefits s/he deserves ethically and by law.

5. Highly-trained and skilled employees

Most private caregivers don’t have the time or resources to attend ongoing, industry-relevant training, classes, and seminars. The most professional, high-quality home care agencies, on the other hand, make routine trainings, safety meetings, classes, and education a normal part of the employee’s experience.

In fact, when you’re meeting with various home care agencies to make your decision, it’s a good idea to ask them about the types of training and continuing education they offer to employees as this can be a good way to make your final decision.

Washington Home Care Association is dedicated to connecting seniors and their loved ones with licensed, Medicare-approved home care agencies that provide high-quality, in-home senior care services in Spokane and the tri-city area. Contact us to learn more about our services and to get in touch with a home care agency near you.

The more time you have to search for a home care provider, the more likely you are to find the best fit for the client. The ideal is to recognize the signs an aging relative needs support to stay at home, and taking advantage of free, no-obligation, in-home assessments offered by most home care agencies. Even if you find yourself in a 9-1-1 situation, we still recommend taking time to interview multiple prospects.

As with anything in life, you’re bound to feel more comfortable with one over another, so interviewing multiple agencies gives you and your senior loved one some agency in the process – and the ability to make a more informed selection.

Become a Pro at Interviewing Prospective Home Care Agencies

What then, does that selection process look like? And how should you move forward? First, visit our post titled, The How-To Guide For Hiring In-Home Help.

The best way to compare agencies is to make sure they’ve all answered the same questions. This gives you a more “apples-to-apples” comparison so you can hear various answers and approaches to the same things.

Some of the questions pertain to the essential “must-haves” from a home care provider, such as, “are you licensed,” while others delve into more personal or more open-ended subjects that are more relevant to the client’s and household’s needs.

1. Are you licensed in the state of Washington?

You should never hire a home care agency that isn’t licensed by the state in which they work. These state-authorized licenses are reviewed regularly and require a basic standard of caregiver education, training, reviews of client complaints or lawsuits, etc.

Feel free to use our website’s Find a Home Care Agency link, which connects you with home care agencies that current licenses from the state of Washington.

2. Are you certified by Medicare, meeting their health and safety requirements?

This is another layer of “vetting” worth having. Medicare covers some aspects of healthcare depending on the situation. So, even if your parent or spouse’s caregiving needs don’t qualify for Medicare reimbursement or coverage now, it’s worth thinking ahead and working with a Medicare-certified agency so you’ll have that option should you need it down the road.

3. Do you have a protocol for communicating with the family?

If you’re a child or family member of the client, rather than a spouse, you’ll want to have a clear communication path in place. You should be informed of the caregiver and client’s day, any red flags or changes noted by the caregiver, mood tracking, meal reports, updates from healthcare providers or the pharmacy, etc.

4. What services do you offer? And, do you offer in-home care 24/7?

The services required now are bound to evolve, change, and increase as time goes on. Eventually, that may require overnight support, long-term respite care, or even live-in care. Working with an agency that offers care 24/7 is a smart way to ensure you won’t have to go through the caregiver search all over again if the client’s needs increase.

5. Do you place caregivers based on the personality of the client?

Caregivers are as varied in personality as their clients, and clients fare best when paired with someone they feel comfortable with. This can include things like a love of the same hobbies or activities, similar energy levels, pet lovers, etc. Just as you want to feel good about the home care agency you use, your loved one should connect with the caregiver(s) they spend time with. Meeting a few ahead of time, or ensuring the agency works hard to “match” caregivers and clients by personality types and lifestyle preferences, eases the transition.

The Washington Home Care Association was explicitly established to guarantee seniors choosing to age-in-place have access to high-quality, personalized in-home care. Contact us to learn more about selecting the best potential home care provider for your loved one.