|
As with most things, there is a process involved in selecting and beginning service with the home health care service agency that will provide care for your loved one. While the process outlined below isn’t carved in stone, it should serve as a reasonable outline for getting you through. It reflects the process Generations prefers, but our service is customized to the particular needs and circumstances of the individual.
Do a reasonably thorough due diligence on the agency. It’s prudent to do your homework on the available agencies. Here’s a brief series of questions that might help:
- How does the agency hire and conduct in-service training for its employees? Does it protect its employees with written personnel policies, benefits, and insurance?
- Are nurses required to evaluate the client's home care needs? (Remember! In New Jersey a registered nurse is required to supervise the CHHA’s activities.) If so, do they consult the client's physicians and family members? Are the client and her/his family members included in developing the plan of care, and in making any subsequent changes? Ask to see the actual in-home assessment document. Is it thorough, comprehensive and thoughtful?
- Is the client's course of treatment documented, detailing the specific tasks to be carried out by each CHHA? Does the client and his or her family receive a copy of this plan, and does the nurse supervisor update it as appropriate?
- How often are there on-site visits by a nurse supervisor?
- Does the agency detail its services and fees and other pertinent information? Some agencies, like Generations, furnish clients with a "Client Bill of Rights" that outlines the rights and responsibilities of the providers, client, and CHHA.
- Are financial arrangements clear and understandable?
- What procedures does this provider have in place to handle emergencies? Are agency personnel accessible at all times?
- How does this provider ensure client confidentiality?
Visit the agency. Many relationships in home healthcare begin through only phone contact, and in some cases that may be appropriate (as when distance is an issue). However, when possible you’ll want to know that there’s a real business behind the name and phone number, with systems, files, procedural manuals and training rooms. In some cases you may find that “the business” is little more than a single room in someone’s home with a phone and a fax machine. A working, “real” office is a very visible demonstration of the business’ commitment to its operations and its clients, and an expression of its desire to operate in a professional manner.
Review agreements and agency-provided materials to ensure you understand your financial and other obligations. Only then should you sign any documents.
The agency should next arrange for a registered nurse to visit the client in her/his home; preferably, the primary caregiver (most often a family member) should be there as well. The nurse will get an understanding of the client’s needs, limitations and expectations. Generations uses one of the most comprehensive nurse’s assessment proceses in the industry, to ensure we are properly addressing the client’s needs.
The nurse should prepare a written plan of care, detailing the services and timing of various activities. The plan should be reviewed with the appropriate family member as well as the client.
Generations will assign a CHHA, based on criteria provided by the client, family member and nurse. The CHHA will be provided with the plan of care and a copy will be kept in the client’s home for updating and notation during service.
A day or so before the CHHA’s assignment actually begins, she/he will visit the client’s home, together with our nurse, to familiarize herself/himself with the setting and to meet the client. This short visit (usually under an hour) is designed to prevent any issues on the day that full care begins.
The CHHA arrives. The client should be advised not to admit the CHHA unless she/he is wearing the Generations photo ID, and the photo matches. Upon arrival our CHHA will use the client’s home phone to make a toll-free call to Generations. This call (using state-of-the-art tracing technology) confirms that the CHHA has arrived. Another toll-free call is made at the end of the daily assignment at which time the CHHA inputs the activities performed that day. This ensures accuracy in billing, as well as enabling real-time verification of the CHHA’s arrival.
About every 4-6 weeks, our nurse and/or a member of management will visit the home to check on the client and the CHHA, and to ensure that the plan of care is working as intended or to make any adjustments called for.
|
