Frequently Asked Home Care Questions

The Services offered by Home Care Assistance are typically private pay services. Home Care Assistance accepts all Long-Term Care Insurance that pays for non-medical in-home care. Home Care Assistance submits and manages weekly invoices and daily care notes to the insurance provider on behalf of the policy holder.  Additionally, we will accept an assignment of benefits (we are paid directly from the insurance company rather than the family needing to pay our invoice in full and the family then receiving reimbursement up to 90 days later).  Not all insurance providers offer an assignment of benefits. Non-medical care is not commonly covered by general medical insurances such as Medicare.

In-home care provides seniors with one-on-one assistance in the comfort of their own home, which enables them to live independently. Home Care Assistance helps seniors maintain their quality of life, and the personal attention they receive vastly improves their safety, health and happiness. In-home care includes assistance with activities of daily living such as meal preparation, bathing, transportation, laundry, medication reminders, light housekeeping and companionship.

Convincing older adults that they need help at home can be challenging. While they balk at the thought of losing independence, the opposite is actually true. By having a little help, they are much more likely to retain independence because they remain in control of decisions affecting their lifestyle. Once a crisis occurs (a fall, dehydration, a severe UTI), decisions about their care will be in the hands of others. With professional home care, families can enjoy peace of mind knowing their loved ones are in safe and caring hands.

We have a couple of ideas:

1. Ask your parents to try home care, at least temporarily. Once they meet their caregiver and see how nice it is to have an extra set of hands, “temporary” almost always becomes permanent.
2. Come up with another name for “caregiver.” Some of our clients are more receptive to having a personal assistant or a housekeeper/chef.
3. Ask your parents to do this for you …agree to a meeting with our owner. Once your parents meet our owner and understand that our company shares their goal of remaining at home, it’s a less threatening proposition.

Here are the reasons:

1. Risk and Liability or Experienced Care Staff.  With a private caregiver, you need to do the proper screening and background checks. After you hire that person, you then become a supervisor, and it isn’t always easy! We have a very rigorous system for screening and interviewing caregivers, so we hire only the highest quality caregivers. Plus we handle all ongoing caregiver issues so the family never has to deal with it.
2. Management/ Oversight.  When your private caregiver calls in sick or must head out of town to take care of a sick family member, you’re stuck finding a replacement or taking care of your loved one yourself. When you use a company, there are always back-up caregivers available.
3. Care Guarantee.  Home Care Assistance is the only care provider in New Mexico that offers a We Will Be There Guarantee – our client care schedules start on time as scheduled and our office is open 6 days a week to meet the needs of clients requiring continual care. After office hours we are accessible 365 days a year LIVE – not an answering service.
4. Caregiver Vetting or Risk and Liability.  Our caregivers are our employees, which means we pay their taxes, Worker’s Compensation, and liability insurance. If you hire a private caregiver and he/she is injured on the job, the Worker’s Compensation Bureau will come to you looking for compensation when the caregiver files a claim. With Home Care Assistance, we assume that burden off you and your loved one.
5. Comprehensive Care Plans.  Your Home Care Assistance care manager is your primary point of contact regarding all care related needs and requests. Our care management is unique among care providers. In our approach, your care manager is your primary resource for Client Advocacy and Quality of Care. Your care manager will take direct ownership of your care, routinely communicate and manage your care staff to ensure your needs are meet.
6. Holistic Approach.  We provide a holistic approach. Our Care Managers are your loved one’s advocate. Not only do we select the best caregiver for your loved one’s needs and lifestyle, we are the only provider that offers the Balanced Care Method, Cognitive Therapeutics, and a focus on continuity of care. We also help connect our clients and their families to additional community resources they may need, such as medical, legal and financial support. Our goal is to provide our clients with the highest quality of life as they age in place.

We are the top senior care provider in Albuquerque.  The most significant feature of our company is our approach to home care. We provide ongoing care management to ensure that the care is of the highest standard and that our caregivers are helping our Clients lead high-quality, purposeful lives.

Another feature is that we specialize in live-in care, providing a quality alternative to an assisted living or skilled nursing facility. As you will see on our website, so many pieces of our philosophy contribute to our success: consistency in caregivers, a proprietary system for screening caregivers, a unique Balanced Care training program, and more. If you decide to interview several home care companies, you need to keep us on your short list. Quite simply, we are the best in the business.

We consider many factors when matching caregivers with our clients. After our initial meeting and consultation with you or your loved one, our Senior Care Specialist will have an excellent idea of the level of care needed and the type of personality that would be a good fit. With these factors, we carefully consider the caregiver skill set, past successes, and scheduling availability.  If at any time the client is unsatisfied or wishes to change care staff-for any reason – we accommodate their requests.

Home Care Assistance does not require a long-term contract. We do have a consent for care agreement that will outline our general terms and expectations for a professional working relationship. We specialize in longer shifts to maximize caregiver to client interaction, higher staff continuity and quality relationships between the client and their designated care staff.

Caregivers stay in the home only for the duration of their assigned shift. Caregivers must maintain a separate residence and are not allowed to use the personal property of the senior without permission from the senior. They may not have visitors or invite family to the home while they are working.