Important Choices
in Quality Living:
Selecting Home Health Care That is Right for You

Choosing A
Health Care Agency

It is often hard to make the decision to have someone come into your home to help you care for a loved one. It is also difficult to know how to choose the right home health care agency. For many individuals with close family support, it is possible to care for a loved one without outside help for a while, but when certain circumstances occur, it may be necessary to take a serious look at the advantages of hiring a home health care agency.

The following information will help prepare you when making a decision for staffing assistance by giving you a description of types of services provided by health care agencies, as well as information to assist you in determining which agency best suits your needs.

Facts About Licensing: Protection for Clients Who Access Home Health Care Services

Skilled services require the agency to be licensed by the state and to meet specific rules and regulations regarding the way the agencies operate. Some of the most important rules and regulations include:

1) Home health agencies in the state of Idaho must have a supervisory RN on staff.
2) All visits to the client must be documented by each caregiver.

3) A state regulatory agency will perform annual audits of the agency’s operations before renewing the license.

However, non-skilled services for agencies that offer non-medical home care and home support services generally are not regulated and do not require a license. This means anyone can offer these services. If you are accessing this type of service it is important to carefully screen the companies and/or individuals that may provide care to your loved one.

Determining Your Needs is an Important Step in Finding the Agency That Will Best Suit You

Make a list of the services that you feel are needed – assistance with bathing, meal preparation, shopping, and light housekeeping all fall under the category of companion or personal care services. Persons only needing this assistance may be referred to a non-medical home care agency. Skilled nursing services are prescribed by a physician to help in recovery from an illness or injury or to provide assistance for a chronic medical condition. Many times a combination of skilled and non-skilled services may be needed. List in detail what services are preferred and/or required and go over these services with the agencies that you are looking at to make sure that they are able to accommodate your needs.

Write out a schedule as well as a time frame in which you need services. Make sure to include the frequency of the visits needed (i.e. one day weekly, 3 days weekly, etc.), what time of day the assistance is required and an approximation of how long the services will be needed. Go over this information with potential agencies to verify that they can accommodate your schedule.

Questions to Ask Before Making a Decision

Before making a final decision there are many factors to consider in determining if an agency is right for you. Make sure to verify that the caregivers are insured and bonded and that the caregivers are carefully screened and drug tested. A background check should be performed because a simple reference will not alert you to a criminal history that may put a vulnerable adult at risk for being victimized.

The agency should create a care plan that includes the input from the client, family members and appropriate health care professionals. This ensures that you will be receiving the services requested and will document the care for future reference and creates a clear set of instructions for care to be followed by all caregivers. It also ensures that care is coordinated if multiple agencies are involved in the care of the loved one.

Talk with the company about emergency contact – if your loved one needs care during off times, is the agency available for any emergency issues that may arise? Are there back up caregivers in the event that the caregiver assigned becomes sick or unavailable?

Determining an agency that is best for you is important. Taking the time to make sure that you feel good about the agency you hire will give you peace of mind and may save you undue stress or hardship in the future.

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