How to Select a Home Health Agency for Your Aging Parents

Finding the best home health agency for your aging parents (and one that fits your budget) doesn’t have to take days- or even hours. This article will walk you through the steps of making sure your choice outperforms your expectations so you can feel confident about the person caring for your loved ones.

In the following paragraphs, you’ll find information such as:

  • Basic standards your home health agency should meet
  • Questions you should ask before hiring them
  • Reasonable expectations to keep as the hiring party

Let’s get started!

How to Select the Right Home Health Agency

There’s no doubt that it takes significant trust to put the health of your loved ones in another’s hands. After all, there’s a lot that could go wrong. Fortunately, however, with the right home health agency choice, you can eliminate nearly all of the risks plaguing your conscience.

Risks such as:

  • What if the home health attendant doesn’t properly care for my loved one?
  • What if they don’t show up and I’m not told about it?
  • What if my loved one simply doesn’t get along with their caretaker?

Let us start by easing your mind: all of the above circumstances are exceptionally rare. When they do happen, it’s usually by a company that has a history of those occurrences. As such, you should begin your search by looking into the Google reviews of the companies you’re considering.

What Standards Should Your Home Health Agency Meet?

If you’ve never hired a home health agency before, it’s difficult to know what practices and services are standard versus what aren’t. Here is a short list of the standards your chosen company should meet at the bare minimum.

Your home health agency should:

  • Have proper licensing (be sure to look into the licensing laws in your state)
  • Be fully insured to cover any accidents or incidents
  • Have their employees bonded (to protect against theft)
  • Have employees with experience and education in the health care field

If you’re considering a company that doesn’t have one or more of these items, odds are you should reconsider.

Questions to Ask Your Home Healthy Agency

Now that you know what expectations to have and what standards your chosen company should meet, it’s a great idea to start compiling a list of questions to ask them. These questions will give you important insight into your chosen company’s professionalism, thoughtfulness, preparedness, and sense of responsibility.

Consider asking the following:

  • What certifications/accreditations do you have?
  • Are your employees insured/bonded against theft?
  • Do you conduct background checks?
  • What does a typical care plan look like?
  • Do you have a varied caregiver selection?
  • What communication methods to you have available for family members?

By asking these questions, you can both make a more informed decision and let your home health agency know you mean business.

Corica Group is Here to Help

If you’re actively looking for a home health agency in your area, consider Corica Group. Our specially trained staff can help your loved ones with everything from bathing and hygiene to meal preparation and cleaning.

To learn more about how we can help, call us today at (314) 312-6333 or fill out our contact form.

We’d love to hear from you!

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