As we all know, home health care organizations are undergoing a massive transformation. Because private duty home care agencies such as Family Resource Home Care provide non-medical supportive services such as homemaking, companionship, and personal care, we aren’t what most people think of when they think of health care.

But the presence or absence of high-quality senior care and other services for families with medical needs makes a huge difference in the medical outcomes for those patients. As such, non-medical support for patients is often as essential for health as the medical component. Your medical prognosis won’t be as good without proper food, clean sheets, medication reminders, toileting, dressing, or bathing assistance.

As medical organizations are always trying to improve services, so are home health care agencies. Here are some ways Family Resource Home Care has responded to the needs of consumers and the health care community in order to improve what we do – and improve the health outcomes of our clients.

  • Training. All our caregivers are now required to complete continuing education credits every year. In addition, we have our own in-house training program which includes a class taught by myself on the heart and soul of caregiving.
  • Caregiver Pay and Benefits. Family Resource has one of the lowest turnover rates of any home care agency and one reason is how we treat our employees. Every home care provider, not just those working in the City of Seattle has paid sick leave. The Affordable Care Act (Obamacare) will mean more caregivers will be able to have medical insurance. We are constantly reviewing our pay rates to make sure they are the highest in the area.
  • Systems. Boring, but important. We did a total upgrade of our computer and home care software last year and now have state of the art capability to manage the many thousands of shifts we complete monthly.
  • Better Communication. Our new software has both client and caregiver portals to enable better and more timely communication.
  • Even Better Communication. To communicate more effectively with the community we serve, we launched a new website this month. You’ll be amazed at how good it is. So please give it a look at www.familyresourcehomecare.com

Family Resource Home Care doesn’t produce products like Apple, Starbucks or Boeing. As a home health care agency we work on improving recruiting, training, supervising, and supporting our wonderful caregivers. The result – better outcomes for families.