Home health aide agencies make it convenient for you to procure the services of an aide – or to offer your services as one. There are many benefits of looking for a home health aide agency: relative assurance of the hired aide’s expertise, security, convenience. Reliability. However, aides hired via such agencies tend to be more expensive than one acquired through the ‘gray market’ – unofficial trade – or recommendations.
The question is this: are you willing to pay more for the advantages home health aide agencies offer, or would you rather save some bucks and go for a cheaper aide who is cheaper because there are no middlemen involved? Think about it this way. You’ve a leaking mains pipe. Would you rather get a cheaper, seedy and possibly even unqualified person to fix it and risk shoddy repair, mains failure or pipes bursting – just to save a bit of money that might bite you in the back later? Or would you go for a professional instead and get the job done in one go?
Home health aide agencies personify the ‘professional’ party in that comparison. The agencies can’t hire just anyone to become a home health aide. They have to ensure that each person they hire is qualified and able to perform the tasks required of them by the client. This also means that they have many aides at their disposal, so if you happen to have a fussy parent – or an irritable patient at home – you can easily ask for a replacement aide. It’s a simple solution you’ll never be able to find if you were to source for home health aides elsewhere.
But not all agencies are reputable; there are a few rotten apples in the basket as is the case with pretty much every industry out there. So how do you go about choosing the right one for you – one that is legitimate, respectful and reasonable? Here are a few pointers for both clients and job seekers.
Client
You have to remember that some home health care agencies aren’t here with the genuine intention to help; it is disappointing to admit that there are rotten apples even in the healthcare industry, but it is true. Some agencies are money-oriented and are willing to disregard the quality and history of their aides so long as they maximise their profit margin. As such, the home health aide that goes to you might not even be qualified.
For-profit agencies will also be picky about the cases they accept. Is all you need a basic package, several hours’ worth of help per day while you’re at work during lunchtime, and only throughout spring when you’ll be busy fitting your daughter into her first year at school? Then your application might get overlooked if there are other, bigger fish to choose from. This is something you do not need if you’re already tied up with a family to run and a job to keep. Being part of the sandwich generation can deal you some nasty chow – but don’t let such rotten agencies add themselves to the mix.
You’ll be glad to know that there are non-profit agencies who genuinely want to help you, too. You still have to pay for their services, but not as much as the jacked-up amount you’d have to pay a greedy agency. Partners In Care is one such non-profit home health aide agency. It claims to accept both long- and short-term cases with adequate staffing, as per the needs of the patient. If the patient’s Medicare or Medicaid suddenly gets cut off, Partners In Care will smoothly transition the payment method from public to private aid without the hassle of adapting the patient to a new temporary home health aide. Bottom line: choose the agency carefully.
Ask, ask, ask! As children we’ve been taught to ask questions when we don’t understand or know something, and this trusty principle can still apply today. Pepper the agency with thorough, concise and reasonable questions and evaluate them based on all or most of their answers. For instance, just because an agency has not acquired a license (they’re expensive) does not mean that its employees are unfit to work; for all you know the agency makes it a point to hire licensed aides only after a complete background and history check.
Job Seeker
Perhaps you are looking to offer your services under a bigger umbrella than your own. Whether you want to be employed now to gain experience before striking out on your own, or you just want to work with a consistent paycheck that does not fluctuate too much with your performance in a particular month, you’ll want to choose a good agency – and for good reason.
But does being an employee as opposed to being a freelancer mean that you’ll be raking in more income? Not necessarily. Quick-acting, chance-grabbing freelancers might land a job that pays better than what an agency would pay you; remember, what the agency charges the client isn’t the amount you’ll receive. The agency will take its own cut from the total, then deduct any other miscellaneous fees before paying you. Usually you’ll get a fixed percentage of what the client pays the agency.
You can go about choosing the right home health aide agency to work for by using pretty much the same methods you’d use to hunt for a company for a different job. Read up on prospective agencies as much as you can. This will give you valuable brownie points during your interview – and it’s only fair that the employee knows as much about the agency as the agency knows about him or her, right? You might also be able to unearth an ex-employee or two who you can ask about their working experience. Remember: things are not what they seem. A small agency working in a cramped, cluttered office might be really good, and vice versa, so don’t let the first glance fool you.
Conclusion
Whether you are a potential client or an aide, let your inquisitive side come out and nitpick at the tiniest detail like there’s no tomorrow. The aide will be caring for someone you love and cherish, and you absolutely don’t want anything to happen to that person (which is why you’re splurging on this expensive service in the first place, yes?). If you’re an aide, chances are you’ll have to sign a contract that binds you to the agency for some time, so pick wisely as well. Having an unreputable agency blot your resume is one of the last things you’d want.
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