Caring for a loved one and helping that individual age in place, in the comfort of his or her own home, is a gift. But caregiving can also be emotionally and physically draining, especially when a loved one is facing end of life issues. According to Brent Korte, Executive Director of EvergreenHealth Home Care, choosing hospice care for a loved … Read More
Talking Turkey: Five Ways Home Care Agencies Can Get a Leg Up in 2019
As we stand on the brink of that most wonderful time of the year, home care agency owners’ heads are filled less with visions of sugar plums and more with how to juggle time off for caregivers, extra holiday support for clients, year-end reporting, holiday gifts, cards, parties…not to mention the influx of new requests just around the corner as … Read More
What to Consider When Choosing End of Life Care
Imagine a specialized type of care that addresses the spiritual, emotional, and physical needs of an individual with a life-limiting illness. Imagine that this care is delivered by a team of compassionate experts, specially trained on end-of-life symptom management, who address the needs not only of the individual, but of the immediate family members. Imagine that this type of care … Read More
Hospice Provides Care for Families and their Loved Ones
While home care options for a terminally ill patient may not seem like a novelty today, this type of care was unusual as recently as the mid-1950s. Dame Cicely Saunders, a British registered nurse, pioneered the notion of caring for terminally ill patients, addressing their pain and symptoms, as well as attending to their emotional and spiritual needs. A key … Read More
Does Your Home Care Website Design Scare Customers Away?
For many older adults and their loved ones, the thought of hiring a home care provider is a scary, but necessary, prospect. And with the heavy competition in the marketplace, it’s vital not to do anything that might further spook potential clients. This may sound like a no brainer, but many home care agencies don’t pay enough attention to, or … Read More
Family Caregivers and Professional Caregivers Unite in Common Care Goals
In the summer of 1994, Gary Barg was a video producer living in Atlanta and preparing for an assignment to cover the Olympic Games. With a few weeks on his hands before his assignment kicked into high gear, Barg traveled to south Florida to support his mother who was caring for her parents. For those two weeks, Barg stepped into … Read More
Factors to Look for When Selecting Quality In-Home Care for Your Senior Loved One
If you’ve decided in-home care is an appropriate solution to help your parent as he or she is aging in place, you’ve probably begun completing your due diligence by asking for recommendations from friends and family members, researching online reviews for local agencies, and possibly even scheduling interviews with prospective home care agencies or individual caregivers in an effort to … Read More
Sherlock Home Care: Benefits of Mystery Shopping Your Agency
The home care industry is at its most competitive, and figuring out how to get ahead can feel like a great mystery. The good news is that you don’t need to hire Sherlock Holmes to get the inside info you need to succeed. Mystery shopping helps companies assess the competition to gain better insight into how other businesses stack up … Read More
In-Home Care Is Critical in the Changing U.S. Health Care Industry
Twenty-five years ago, when Allen Hager, executive chairman of Risemark and founder of Right at Home, first got into home care, 8% of the United States GDP was spent on health care. Today, it’s nearly 18% and expected to hit 20% within the next several years. Hager explains that escalating costs and a societal responsibility to provide long-term care for … Read More
How the Home Care Industry Is Working to Meet the Needs of Today’s Consumers
Choosing a home care agency for a senior loved one can be confusing. There are a number of questions that must be navigated to determine whether home care is covered through Medicare or Medicaid, and if so, how much is covered? There are also questions about the level of care needed. Does the senior need skilled nursing assistance, companionship, or … Read More
In-Home Care Is Preventative Health Care
Historically, health care in the United States has functioned by addressing crisis. For older adults, that may mean hospitalization due to illness, a chronic health condition, or a fall. Unfortunately, once a senior enters the hospital for treatment, a cycle of readmission can ensue, with patients getting better and being discharged, only to return with a complication, or similar issue. … Read More
How Long-Term Care Insurance Can Help You Age at Home
Did you know that about 70% of people over age 65 will require some type of long-term care? That’s according to Maryglenn Boals, CLTC, LACP, President of MgBoals & Associates, LLC, a locally and nationally recognized leader for her work in the field of senior care options. The reality, according to Boals, is that Medicare won’t fully cover long-term care, … Read More
Fix It and Flip It: Home Care Marketing Tools Can Help You Sell Your Agency
Home improvement and house flipping shows like Property Brothers, Flip or Flop, and Fixer Upper are wildly popular as housing markets across the country climb and people dream of selling for a high profit. Just like the housing market, the home care industry is also hot, and many agency owners are hoping to sell their businesses to the highest bidder. … Read More
Quality Counts in Home Care – Interview with Laura Page-Greifinger, BSN, MPA, Founder and CEO of QIRT – Quality in Real Time
More than 30 years ago, Laura Page-Greifinger, BSN, MPA, was a nursing student who may not even have been able to describe what is home health care, but after she was assigned a rotation with the Visiting Nurse Service of New York, all of that changed and she found her passion in home care. After graduation, she would go on … Read More
Shifting Servers? Hire a Website Pro for Your Big Move!
Moving your website to a new web host is sometimes necessary to get the security, bandwidth, and service you need. In many ways, switching servers is a lot like moving into a new house: there are things you need to pack up and secure before the big move, or else you’re going to break some dishes. (Or in the case … Read More
Plan Ahead to Help Seniors Age in Place
Help Choose Home Podcast: Interview with Steven H. Landers, MD, MPH, President and CEO of the Visiting Nurse Association Health Group, Inc. While there is much uncertainty in the world today, one thing we can count on: we are all getting older. Aging brings about change, but aging doesn’t have to bring about a loss of independence as you evaluate … Read More
How Technology Is Helping Seniors Remain Safely in Their Homes
Heraclitus, the pre-Socractic Greek philosopher, said, “Change is the only constant in life.” In the field of technology, this is particularly true. And while one can argue that not all change is positive, the constant evolution of technology has provided us with a myriad of products that make our lives easier. Laurie Orlov is a tech industry veteran, writer, speaker, … Read More
The Future of Health Care Starts in the Home
Health care is evolving, and with that evolution, Arnie Cisneros, president of Home Health Strategic Management, believes there is an opportunity for the home health care industry to set itself apart as the go-to vehicle for delivering results-oriented, higher quality, lower cost care. And where can home health make this impact? In the transition phase, where patients move from hospital … Read More
Building an Efficient Team for Your Senior Loved One: Care Managers, Caregivers and Technology
Peter Sosnow, Integration Leader for Humana at Home, was literally born into a home care family. His father, Larry, started Patient Care, Inc., a home health care company providing services in New York and New Jersey. Because of his family’s background in the industry, it seems only natural that Sosnow would choose home health as a career path. In his … Read More
What the Fab Five Can Teach Us About Marketing Home Care
I’ll admit it; I’m a binge watcher. When I find a show I love on Netflix, I might as well just block out the next few hours of my life. My latest binge watch session, however, provided a good dose of inspiration into how agencies could be marketing home care services better. If you haven’t caught up on the two … Read More
Understanding Aging in Place Home Care Options, Coverage, and Costs
Help Choose Home Podcast: Interview with Jeannee Parker Martin Perhaps you know a bit about in-home caregiving, but you aren’t really sure if it’s an option for your senior loved one. Where do you find out more information about aging in place? What types of care services are provided? How much does in-home care cost? Does Medicare or Medicaid cover … Read More
The Importance of Selecting an Accredited In-Home Care Agency for Your Senior Loved One
The ever-increasing population of older adults who are choosing to age at home has driven an explosion of the home care industry. Just try searching the web for “home care in my area” and dozens of adult care options are presented. Choosing a home care agency is a deeply personal decision. After all, you’re entrusting them with the care of … Read More
What You Need to Know About the New GDPR Rules
You may have noticed that many websites you’ve visited in the past couple of months have been positively screaming at you about their new privacy policies. The new General Data Protection Regulation, or GDPR, is a huge overhaul of privacy on the web laid out over the course of a 261-page document. At its core, GDPR is a new set … Read More
Help Choose Home Podcast: Interview with Cathy Cress, MSW
Choosing Home Care Services for Your Aging Parent Cathy Cress, MSW, shares suggestions for how to go about assessing senior care options and helping aging parents make decisions on the Help Choose Home podcast, which can be accessed on iTunes, Google or other listening devices. In The Wizard of Oz, Dorothy says, “There’s no place like home,” a sentiment that … Read More
Help Choose Home Interview with David Totaro
The Policy Decisions That Impact Home Health Care As the Chief of Government Affairs for BAYADA Home Health Care, David Totaro’s role is to work with elected officials at the national, state, and local levels to influence policy decisions and positively impact the home health care industry. He has a unique perspective that he shares on the Help Choose Home … Read More