 |
Private duty home care agencies generally provide in-home assistance or non-skilled nursing care to the elderly, sick, injured or disabled to assist them with daily living and improve independence.
|
According to the National Private Duty Association, private duty home care agencies are companies that provide home care aides, companion care, homemaker services and may provide nursing services in the client’s home or place of residence. "Private duty" means private pay. In other words, no government monies are used for the cost of care. The most common methods for covering the cost of private duty home care is through long term care insurance benefits, out of pocket, or other types of savings arrangements. Members of the National Private Duty Association employ trained caregivers and assume all responsibility for the payroll and all related taxes – this is never passed off to the customer.
Private duty caregivers can even assist new moms just home from the hospital to help them recover and care for their new baby.
|
|
How Do You Choose the Best Private Duty Homecare Agency? |
Private duty home care is a rapidly growing industry with new providers popping up every day. You have so many choices, it can be overwhelming! But it doesn’t have to be. Here, WhereToFindCare.com gives you some tips and resources to find the best private duty homecare agency for you.
When choosing a private duty home care agency, consider these factors:
- How long the agency has been in business.
- The agency’s caregiver screening process: Does it include reference checks, criminal history and drug screening?
- Whether the agency actually employs the caregiver. Some agencies may actually be placement services, which make you the employer and therefore liable for employment taxes and other responsibilities.
- Reputation for quality and service: This may be hard to determine. That’s why WhereToFindCare.com developed quality and satisfaction scores to help you
|
|
In addition, the National Private Duty Association recommends you ask these specific questions of your prospective home care providers:
- How do you recruit your caregivers?
- Should a scheduling conflict occur, are there trained back-up caregivers?
- Are your caregivers bonded and insured?
- Are the caregivers employees of the provider and who handles payroll and required taxes for the caregiver?
- What type of background checks and screening do you do?
|
How to Compare Quality and Satisfaction Scores |
WhereToFindCare.com gives you two scores to assist you in choosing a private duty home health care provider: WTFC Quality Score and the WTFC Would You Recommend satisfaction score.
The WTFC Quality Score is the percentage of people who rated the provider on WhereToFindCare.com and said they received quality care.
The WTFC Would You Recommend score is the percentage of people who said they "agreed" or "strongly agreed" to the statement "you would recommend this service."
Both of these scores can be found in your search results or on the provider’s home page
These experience-based scores cannot be found elsewhere today except by word of mouth. WhereToFindCare.com surveys harness this powerful word-of-mouth information so that everyone can benefit from it. This is why it is important for you to rate your experience with your health care providers.
|
|
Also Consider What Each Private Duty Homecare Agency Offers |
 |
Once you’ve narrowed down the list you can consider all the other things each provider has to offer.
|
In your search results, click on the name of a private duty home care agency to see more information such as photos, amenities, description of available services and consumer ratings.
Also look for CareStars™ recognition on each home page. People may have left comments about exceptional caregivers from each agency. CareStars™ comments give you a sense that the homecare agency employs caring individuals that will provide the service you need.
|
|