There is a wide spectrum of Industry Standards for just about every industry in the world and Home Care is no exception. When you try to look up what The Standard is you’ll find a variety of opinions on the subject and nothing definitive.
The absolute basic requirements that seem to be the most popular are:
- Licensure
- A care plan
- Privacy
- Cost disclosure
- Choice of advocate
- Handling complaints promptly and fairly
These are all necessary, but they are not enough. Midnight Sun Homecare has chosen to receive accreditation from Home Care Standards Bureau because, like us, they believe in holding a higher standard than the bare minimum. We’re proud to maintain an A+ rating with them as well as with the BBB of Alaska.
When you’re choosing a Home Care provider we believe The Standards you should look for are:
- Kindness – Kindness and respect should be shown to every patient, client, and family member.
- Honesty – Accurate and complete details of care, services, and products should always be provided. Lying, cheating, and stealing are unacceptable.
- Respect – Clients, patients, and family members all have worth, deserve dignity, and should be afforded all human rights.
- Dignity – Each patient, client, and family member should be treated in the highest esteem and their self-respect should be maintained.
- Safety – All care providers should ensure that their actions do not intend harm to anyone that they have contact with.
- Competency – All care providers should maintain training and making sure that their skills and knowledge are up to date with current research. They should also be able to clearly communicate all information with patients, clients, and family members.
- The agency should have full licensure according to state regulations.
- Qualified staff should include-
- Gerontologist
- Registered Nurse
- Geriatric Care Manager
- Certified Senior Advisor
- All caregivers should be fully licensed.
- The agency Owner or Operations Manager must have at least 1 year of experience in the paying home care business.
- All caregivers must pass a background check including at least-
- A 50 state multi-jurisdictional check
- Criminal and sex offender registry
- Driving record
- No unresolved complaints with state licensing agencies.
- Must agree to an accrediting agency’s on-site audits.
- The agency must hold each and every employee to the highest standards.
Of course there are a variety of other things that you should consider when looking at providers for your loved ones. These are just the basics that we believe everyone deserves. Each person will have individual requirements and concerns that can be addressed directly with the providers that you choose to look deeper into.
Midnight Sun Homecare believes in making our clients our number one priority and we’re always raising our standards so that we can exceed your expectations.
