Chances are, if you’re asking this question, you’re thinking about hiring a home care company.  Whether you’ve already hired someone, and had problems, or this is a new thing for you, there are things that you should watch out for, and keep an eye on.

Here are 7 things you should expect from a quality home care company

1. Do they follow up and visit after you’ve signed on?  Do they come and visit employees that are working on second and third shift?  You should expect that the supervisor will come and visit the employees and perform assessments regularly.  They should also be requesting feedback from you on a regular basis, to ensure that standards of care are being followed.
2. Do you know who to call when you have a problem?  Are you comfortable calling them any time there is an issue?  You should be able to place a call and have any issues taken care of, and you should know who to contact day or night, if any problems do arise.
3. How is the family kept in the loop? High technology isn’t necessary, but there needs to be a mechanism for keeping family in the loop.  That means taking notes of what is going on so that you can know what’s going on, even when you can’t be there.
4. How are time cards verified? How do you know that your caregivers are where they say they are, and that they are actually providing care when they say they are?  If your home care business isn’t using GPS or telephony for clocking in and out, they’re not taking basic steps to ensure that hours are reported accurately.
5. What is the employment status of the caregivers? Federal law is pretty clear on this one.  Caregivers should be employees of the agency, not 1099, or contractors.  Quite simply, they are told when to show up, what to do, and how to do it.  Any agency that does otherwise is skating on a very thin line, and in a grey area of the employment laws.
6. What about things like light housekeeping, laundry, and taking out the trash? To me, this is one of the first signs that a caregiver isn’t doing their job.  If there is trash in the trash cans, if the apartment smells funky, or there is trash on the floor, chances are the caregiver is not doing their job.  One of the most important things that they can do is clean up spills, and take out the trash.    When I work a case, I make sure that I’m checking for these things, and tidying up as I arrive, and before I leave, so that the place is better than I found it.
7. Do caregivers get paid time off from the agency?  This one is super important. It is also unheard of in the industry.  Generally, if a caregiver doesn’t work, they don’t get paid.  That means that they tend to come to work sick, and get their clients sick.  If they have paid time off, they are much more likely to take time off when they’re sick, and contain the spread of germs.

These are just 7 of the things you should look for in a quality home care company, but there are so many more out there.  Which ones are most important to you?