If you begin researching home care for an elderly parent, one of the first things that you will find is the difference between an independent caregiver and a home health care agency. Both options provide excellent care, but they operate quite differently. It’s important to know the differences, as they will influence your situation regarding finances, reliability, and the various responsibilities involved.
Training and Oversight
When you work with a Home Health Agency Philadelphia, the individual caregivers must comply with certain training requirements and are overseen by the agency. They go through background checks, verification of their references, and re-evaluation periodically. The agency also assesses their performance and handles any complaints.
In the independent caregiver world, there is no level of standard. The caregivers may be anything from well-versed in care provision to someone with little training. You will need to ensure this is addressed when hiring them.
The differences in oversight are also remarkable. If caregivers do not perform well within the agency, you are not the one who has to deal with those issues—the agency does. In the independent agency situation, you are the one who has to manage these matters if the caregiver is not performing adequately.
If your elderly parent requires professional services such as physical therapy or wound care, a home care agency is likely best for you so that the proper individual can carry out the needed service.
Backup Care
One major difference between a home health agency and an independent caregiver is backup care. What happens if your caregiver gets sick? With the agency, they will have somebody else who can take over. It may not be the same person you initially worked with, but your elderly family member will receive care.
If you use an independent caregiver, that will not be the case. If they are unable to fulfill their services for some reason, you have a problem on your hands, and you will have to spend time seeking someone else to provide care.
You may find yourself stuck trying to fill in the gaps left by your caregiver. This puts everyone in a stressful situation.
This situation with backup care will be especially relevant if your elderly family member needs continuous care for several hours a day. It will also be valid if there is an incident that prevents your elderly family member from receiving these services for an extended period.
In this case, agencies win over independent caregivers regarding backup care or continuous care needs.
Differences in Cost
Independent caregivers usually cost less per hour than agency caregivers. The two types of services also differ in cost significantly, which may be why many people turn to independent caregivers for assistance.
However, the costs are not as simple as they seem. If you hire a caregiver independently, you are technically an employer. This means that payroll taxes, insurances, and other related costs are your responsibility.
If you work with an agency, they take care of all these employer-related legal and tax matters on your behalf. You pay for the services of the caregivers per hour, but a portion of that payment also accounts for the taxes of the caregiver. You will not need to file or pay any fees associated with these taxes.
When you consider these expenses, much of the cost difference between an agency and an independent caregiver disappears.
Flexibility and Personalization
There are some added benefits of choosing independent caregivers over agency caregivers. This includes flexibility in scheduling and personalization of the relationship that you can foster with your caregiver.
With an agency, due to the bureaucratic nature of the company, there will be specific processes that require following if you wish to change aspects of your caregiver’s schedule or other requests that you may have.
With independent caregivers, you will receive a more personalized experience with your caregiver since they will be the only person caring for your family member in question.
Legal Issues
There is a danger in hiring an independent caregiver. When you hire someone yourself, you become the employer. You will be responsible for ensuring they have adequate insurance coverage if something happens to them while they are in your home.
If your elderly family member is hurt by this individual while they are attempting to care for them and there were evidently questions regarding how they provided this care, this may create issues regarding who is liable.
Agencies provide their clients with insurance that will cover these services. They will also deal with any worker’s compensation claims if something happens to the caregiver on the job so that you are not held personally liable in this situation.
The requirements regarding labor and employment acts will also apply to an independent caregiver; therefore, it will be your responsibility to follow all the laws as they apply to salaries and labor taxes.
Quality Control
When you work with a home health agency, there is a quality control system in place if things do not work out as planned. If there are issues regarding the performance of the caregivers or their interaction with the clients, there are avenues in which you can go to get assistance with resolving this issue.
These avenues hold people accountable for their actions and result in putting appropriate changes into place. This is not the case with independent caregivers. If things do not work out, you will be required to find a new caregiver and to start anew with your elderly parent.
Some people may enjoy this personally involved experience regarding providing feedback to these caregivers, but it can also be stressful when the quality is not up to par.
Choosing between These Options
In conclusion, there is no right or wrong choice between these two types of caregivers. One may work better than others according to your needs.
If you are more comfortable with someone without much professional oversight who you can manage yourself and you want to save as much money as possible—even at the expense of the difficulty regarding observing this caregiver—then an independent caregiver is likely best for you and your family.
If your elderly parent has a bit more complexity in their medical needs that requires more professional oversight from nurses or even family members who are not involved as intimately in their lives as they should be, then working with an agency is likely best to meet their needs.
Regardless of the path that you choose, most of these methods generally provide excellent care for elderly people who struggle with handling their day-to-day lives alone.
