Home care services provide elderly loved ones with a means of living at home safely and with dignity, often privately funded through savings, reverse mortgage or long term care insurance policies.
Families can select either direct hiring or home care agency services when hiring caregivers for their loved ones. Here are some points to keep in mind when deciding between these options.
Cost
Cost should always be an important consideration when searching for home care assistance, but hiring on a private-pay basis often offers cost savings.
Home care costs in New York vary based on where you reside and the level of assistance needed by your loved one with daily tasks. Rates in Albany and Buffalo tend to fall below the state average; However, those in Ithaca and Syracuse tend to exceed this mark.
If your loved one is covered by Medicare or Medicaid, check with their plan provider to see if personal care or homemaker services are covered by their plan. If not, caregivers are still available on an independent pay basis through staffing agencies, referral services or Nurse Next Door. It is also essential to determine what level of care is necessary; including their needs and limitations as well as expectations from doctors as well as goals set for Happier Aging goals in order to identify which form of homecare would best meet their unique circumstances.
Insurance & Private Pay
Private home care agencies like Nurse Next Door offer clients with various homecare solutions tailored to suit individual needs, whether that means insurance-based solutions (Medicare and Medicaid) or privately paid options such as Nurse Next Door’s caregiver matching service that ensures a well-matched Caregiver that helps give clients peace of mind for themselves and their families.
Many seniors pay for home care with savings and assets from their own savings or through long-term care insurance policies; low-income seniors may qualify for assistance through Medicaid waivers; for families, early assessment of what level of home care will be needed can help make informed decisions regarding how best to finance senior care and home health aide services.
Flexibility
Home care services can be funded in various ways. You have several options for financing them: out-of-pocket payments, long term care insurance coverage or hiring home health aides through private duty home care agencies and registries.
Spending your own money gives you more flexibility to hire the ideal caregiver for your loved one; however, this could also result in higher costs compared to working through an agency.
Choose an agency like Nurse Next Door for added assurance of finding a caregiver that will make your loved one feel supported at home, increasing happiness as well as safety.
Some may assume that not servicing Medicare/Medicaid will prevent home care agencies from making a profit, but by creating a premium brand like Nurse Next Door with unparalleled quality experiences you can charge higher prices and still have a sustainable business model.
Quality
Home health care enables patients to return to their maximum level of functioning or delay institutionalization by keeping them in their own home longer – something many patients and families prefer.
Kroposki and Alexander57 conducted a descriptive study and determined that patient satisfaction scores were higher at agencies where nurses enjoyed good working relationships with supervisors, opportunities for shared decision making, formalized organizational and professional guidelines and adequate staffing and training; other factors contributing to quality include supportive services being readily available, as well as effective communication between nurses and other caregivers.
When selecting a home health agency, make sure that it screens workers thoroughly and has liability insurance. Medicare’s Home Health Compare can also be helpful for gathering information on home health agencies nearby as well as their performance ratings.