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Our nation is getting older. There’s no question about it. As we age many people are caught in what has been referred to as the “sandwich generation”. That means they are, at the same time, responsible for caring for aging parents in addition to their own young children. Literally they are “sandwiched” between these two generations and responsibilities. Those who find themselves in this situation will likely be making some significant health care decisions for their parents.

This can be an uncomfortable and sometimes tense situation. One thing you’ll want to be certain you consider is a qualified home heath agency rather than a nursing home or care center. Almost without exception, patients will do better when treated at home than in any other environment.

Many home health agencies offer a wide spectrum of care from assistance with tasks of daily living such as bathing, meal preparation and light cleaning, to 24-hour nursing and hospice services. But, by contrast some are very narrow in their scope of care. You’ll want to be certain that the home health agency you select has the capability to perform additional services, as they are needed.

As time passes, your family member may become more incapacitated and require additional services. It is essential to select an agency which has the capability to continue to provide services so your family member won’t have the additional stress of transferring to a care center or learning to accept new care providers.

Among the nation’s leading home health agencies, Family Home Care & Hospice (FHC), located in Spokane, WA is the kind of organization committed to providing a range of services which allows them to continue to serve a patient even when the needs increase.

“It has been our purpose from the beginning to offer a range of services which would allow us to continue with patients as long as possible,” explained Michael Nowling, FHC’s President. “Every evidence indicates that outcomes are more positive for the patient and the family if care can be effectively provided in the home.”

Indeed, FHC has been recognized by Medicare as among the top 1 percent of home health agencies in Washington State and among the top 3 percent of home health agencies in the nation. This recognition is based on extensive monitoring of patient outcomes and lends credibility to their stated goal of keeping patients in their own homes as long as possible. Medicare maintains a database of information about home health agencies and their patient outcomes. It’s a good idea to visit their website and look at the data when considering a home health agency. You can log on at http://www.medicare.gov/HHCompare/home.asp.

Most patients will do very nicely utilizing the standard list of services offered by a qualified home health agency, but sometimes specialized services may be required. It is a good idea when evaluating your home health agency selection, to ask what specialized services are available. The chances of your loved one needing these services may be small, but if such a need ever arises you’ll find comfort in knowing that your chosen agency can deliver those services. Specialized treatments or services may include primary care medical services, enteral therapy or wound care specialists.

A constant battle in any home health agency is recruiting and maintaining qualified personnel. It is critical for you to explore the home health agency’s policies for background checks and on-going employee education and training.

“It’s tough to get a job at FHC,” noted Nowling, “but we’re not sorry about that. In fact, that’s the way it should be. We’ve built a great organization as a direct result of our strict qualifications and hiring protocols. We have a staff of professionals who hold themselves to the highest standards of practice and patient care and we support them in that effort. They work hard. They love their patients and it shows. They tend to stay at FHC much longer than is the average for home health agencies. This translates into better outcomes for patients and is a large part of the reason we’ve been so highly ranked by Medicare.”

Just as important as a home health agency’s ability to find and maintain a qualified staff is their commitment to keeping that staff trained and educated in the state of the art techniques and therapies. Ask about their training and continuing education programs.

“Much of the highly technical medical devices can now be used in a home setting,” continued Nowling. “It’s part of our mission to keep our staff in touch with all the most recent improvements in health care delivery.”

No home health decision process would be complete without considering insurance coverage. Medicaid and Medicare are accepted by most home health agencies as is private insurance including long term care. This is a high priority question and should be addressed early on in your search. Insurance coverages will vary not only with home health agencies but with insurance companies. Trying to interpret the legal documents associated with your policy may not be as fruitful for you as a simple call to a customer service representative at your insurance company.

If you haven’t been taking notes as you read, here is a handy checklist:

Put a qualified home health agency on your list of alternatives

Determine what their standard services will be

Ask what specialized services are available

Evaluate your selections by visiting: http://www.medicare.gov/HHCompare/home.asp

Evaluate their screening and hiring of new employees

Evaluate their commitment to continuing training and education of their staff

Determine insurance coverage for your policy and for the home health agency

Making critical decisions about health care is part of your role in the “sandwich generation”. Make certain you do your best to consider all the available options, including putting qualified home health agencies on your evaluation list. Your family member will be glad you did–and so will you.