How to Select a Home Health Agency
Author: CraigMecham Total views: 3 Word Count: 1034
As the population of the nation ages, more people are finding themselves in what has been called the "sandwich generation". They are simultaneously responsible for caring for their aging parents as well as their own children. They are "sandwiched" in between these two responsibilities. Chances are a significant number will be making some major health care decisions on behalf of parents-sometimes with their input and sometimes without, as necessity dictates.
This can be an uncomfortable and sometimes tense situation. One thing you'll want to be certain you consider is a qualified home heath agency rather than a nursing home or care center. Almost without exception, patients will do better when treated at home than in any other environment.
Qualified home health agencies will typically offer a wide variety of care services, from simple daily assistance with tasks such as bathing, fixing meals and light housework, to full-time skilled nursing and even hospice care. Other home health agencies are quite limited in their services. It's a good idea to select a home health agency that can provide the additional services your loved one may need in the future.
As your parent or loved one ages, it may become more difficult for them to perform their daily routine. If you have chosen well, you'll be comforted knowing that your home health provider can continue to provide care. You will spare your family member the stress of moving to a care facility or getting used to new care providers.
Home health agencies such as Family Home Care & Hospice (FHC), based in Spokane, Washington, serve as a prime example of an organization with the resources to "grow" with the patient.
"We have structured our services to be able to offer patients continuing care in their homes as long as medically possible," explained FHC President, Michael Nowling. "All signs point to outcomes which are better for the patient and for the family if medical care can be effectively delivered in the home as long as is medically practical."
Nowling and the FHC staff must know a little bit about these things. They have been recognized by Medicare as among the best 1 percent of home health agencies in the state of Washington. The same Medicare analysis put them in the top 3 percent of home health agencies in the country. Since the recognition is based largely on patient outcomes, the stated goal of keeping patients in their homes as long as possible seems to indeed create the conditions for better patient response. Medicare's database of information on home health agencies and their reported patient outcomes can be accessed at http://www.medicare.gov/HHCompare/home.asp. It would be advisable to log on and look at the corresponding data for any home health agency you may be considering.
In addition to the customary slate of services offered by a home health agency, it would be advisable for you to ask about what specialized services are available. Many home health agencies have the same list of standard services that will fit the needs of most patients quite well, but some patient needs are more specialized and require services that are more difficult to find. Often these services include wound care specialists, primary care medical services and enteral therapy. Ask your home health agency if some of these hard-to-find specialties are available.
Staffing a home health agency is a never ending difficulty. As a result, the best agencies have developed well defined criteria for employment and perform extensive screening of employees. Keeping good employees also requires a specialized effort in education and training. It is perfectly appropriate for you to ask your prospective home health agency how they handle recruiting and staffing issues.
"It's tough to get a job at FHC," noted Nowling, "but we're not sorry about that. In fact, that's the way it should be. We've built a great organization as a direct result of our strict qualifications and hiring protocols. We have a staff of professionals who hold themselves to the highest standards of practice and patient care and we support them in that effort. They work hard. They love their patients and it shows. They tend to stay at FHC much longer than is the average for home health agencies. This translates into better outcomes for patients and is a large part of the reason we've been so highly ranked by Medicare."
As important as finding and keeping good people is to your positive experience with a home health agency, it is equally important to make sure the agency has an aggressive program in place to keep their staff trained and up to date with the latest techniques and practices. Find out how they train and educate their staff.
"Advances in technology have brought highly specialized medical equipment into the home," Nowling continued. "It is the responsibility of a good home health agency to see that employees are continually kept abreast of the latest developments in care."
No home health decision process would be complete without considering insurance coverage. Medicaid and Medicare are accepted by most home health agencies as is private insurance including long term care. This is a high priority question and should be addressed early on in your search. Insurance coverages will vary not only with home health agencies but with insurance companies. Trying to interpret the legal documents associated with your policy may not be as fruitful for you as a simple call to a customer service representative at your insurance company.
Try this simple checklist for your evaluation:
Find a qualified home health agency or two for your list
Make sure you understand their list of typical services
Ask what specialized services are available
Evaluate your selections by visiting: http://www.medicare.gov/HHCompare/home.asp
Find out the details of their employee screening and hiring practices
Ask about their staff training programs
Find out if insurance will cover home health, and if your agency will accept your insurance
If you're one of the "sandwich" generation, then you owe it to your parents or loved ones to thoroughly investigate all your health care options. Make sure that home health agencies are on your list. Chances are your parent or loved one will be grateful you did.
Free Web Content Provider | My Articles Directory /
About the Author
Serving the Inland Northwest for more than 4 decades, Family Home Care & Hospice is synonymous with Spokane home care. FHC's history of patient outcomes gained recognition by Medicare as being among the top one percent of agencies in Washington State. You can get a unique content version of this article from the Uber Article Directory.
Copy and Paste Article Code.
Remember: The article body, title, author bio and links may not be changed or removed. By publishing this article, you agree to all the terms in our Terms of Service.