1. First and most important is safety. You can be assured when hiring a reputable agency that the home health aide that comes to your home is indeed a trained home health aide. Home health aides are trained how to safely transfer patients. They are trained how to safely feed a patient when the patients are not able to feed themselves in order to prevent choking and or aspiration pneumonia ( pneumonia caused by food entering into the lungs).
2. A agency has the ability to perform a thorough Criminal Background Check.
3. An Agency has the man power to fill a last minute sick call or to cover time off and vacations
4. An Agency is able to verify the status of a home health aide to ensure there is no pending abuse complaints or theft against them.
5. An agency is able to provide a written exam to the aide which a Registered Nurse then reviews to ensure the home health aide is competent to be working in the field
6. CarePro home health aides are hired and trained by a Registered Nurse to ensure only the best candidates get hired.
7. An Agency carries workers compensation along with liability insurance. If a worker were to get injured while at your home, the agency would have the insurance to cover it. Hiring privately would mean you would be liable
8. CarePro Pays the employee directly and handles the W2. Hiring privately, you would be responsible for paying the employee, providing a W9, and providing insurances.
   

Before Choosing an Agency

There are so many Home Health Care agencies around and it is difficult to choose which agency to use. You want to do your homework and make sure the agency you choose is indeed a reputable agency. How do you do that?

1. Make sure the agency is registered with the department of Public Health.
2. Ask to see the agencies certificates of insurance and licensures.
3. Ask for references and call them.
4. Find out if the agency have an oncall line 24/7 in case of emergencies where you can speak to a Registered Nurse.
5. Who is overseeing your case? Is it a Registered Nurse?
6. How will you be billed? Some agencies will have you pay the employee directly while they take a cut for themselves leaving you do handle paying the employee and leaving the insurance liability up to you. The rate is lower but remember you get what you pay for!
7. Ask how long the agency has been in existence. There are many new agencies that pop up and last only a short time. You want to be sure whichever agency you choose has been around for a while.
8. Check with your local elder’s services to make sure they have heard of the agency your looking at.