What You Should Know About Switching Home Healthcare Providers

Switching healthcare providers is often a difficult thing. In many cases, you’ve grown comfortable with your home healthcare provider. You understand their methods, you know their staff, and their hours work for your schedule.

However, it’s often necessary to switch healthcare providers, especially when you’re trying to take care of elderly relatives. Home healthcare requires a perfect balance that not every provider can meet for the patient.

You want to find the best home health care Toledo can provide, but you may not be sure how to do it. If that describes you, then don’t worry! In this article, we’ll give you tips to navigate the process. Our goal is to help you find the home nursing care that will make you most comfortable!

When to Change Home Healthcare Providers

The first thing you may be wondering is when it’s time to change your home nursing care. There could be several factors involved in this decision. However, the most pressing issue is your patient’s health.

Unfortunately, elder abuse is all too easy to commit. While it’s not necessarily widespread, it can happen to your relative. If you notice any of the following occurring, it’s likely a good idea to switch providers.

1. Unexplained Physical Marks

If nurses neglect their patients, it often results in injuries. For instance, patients may fall when getting in and out of the shower due to a lack of aid. In rarer cases, nurses may resort to physically harming patients.

Other signs of neglect or abuse include poor hygiene and changes in appearance. This is a likely indicator that patients aren’t receiving the care they need.

In a worst-case scenario, patients may have signs of injuries like scrapes or concealed wounds. This can indicate them to be victims of abuse. However, never jump to conclusions. Carefully inspect the situation over time before taking drastic measures.

2. Emotional Changes

It’s not uncommon for elderly patients to experience occasional mood swings. However, if your relative suddenly shows a complete shift in their emotional expression, this could be caused by abuse.

These shifts could manifest in changes in sleep patterns, mood, or non-verbal cues. If stress is truly excessive, you may notice some weight loss.

3. Unanswered Questions

If your home healthcare aide doesn’t answer questions, and especially if they get defensive when asked, this could indicate abuse. While it is normal for aides to occasionally not know the answers to some questions, it should not happen frequently.

Your relative’s aide should be well-informed and up-to-date on all matters concerning your relative’s health. Even if they haven’t abused your relative, an uninformed aide is not someone to trust with healthcare.

Considerations for Switching Home Health Agencies

Now that we’ve covered some signs of when you should switch agencies, let’s talk about how to do it. When you begin investigating healthcare agencies, there are a few questions you should ask yourself.

First and foremost, is this agency accepting new patients? Usually, you can quickly answer this question by calling the agency and asking them. This call can also be quite informative.

If they are prompt in answering your questions on the first call, it shows they will likely be quick in the future. An agency’s availability for answering questions is a key criterion to pay attention to.

Second, make sure your insurance plan will cover this home healthcare provider. Home nursing agencies are often expensive, and paying out-of-pocket is usually unrealistic.

Third, consider whether this healthcare provider is likely to meet your relative’s needs. You should seek out healthcare professionals based on the opinions of people you trust. Consider asking other relatives or friends who their providers are.

Additionally, you could always ask your doctor if they have any agencies they’d recommend. However, if you don’t know anybody with experience in this area, don’t panic!

Online resources like Zocdoc or Healthgrades feature review sections that you can consult before hiring an agency. On these sections, plenty of patients and users leave reviews on these providers.

Even more helpful, these services help you find healthcare in your area. This makes it much easier to find the best services home health care Toledo provides.

Beginning Steps for Transition

When you change your relative’s home nursing care, the transition must be as smooth as possible. Your relative requires stability, so you should make every effort to provide that.

Here are some straightforward steps to follow that will help with a smooth transition.

First, make sure you understand your contract with your current provider. Before you terminate the contract, you must ensure you’re not in violation of any of its tenets.

Next, learn the agency’s procedures and policies for termination of services intimately. These procedures could include things like a fee or a required advanced notice.

When you know that you can leave the service, make sure there is some alternative form of care for your relative. You only need this alternative source until your new provider can take over.

Now that you know how to get out of your former contract, let’s talk about starting with the new agency. First, it’s always a healthy practice to sit down with your relative’s aide and acquaint them with necessary information.

Explain your relative’s medical history, daily physical difficulties they have, and other relevant information in detail. Also, discuss in detail what the goals of this medical treatment are.

When you’ve said your piece, it’s crucial to listen to the physician’s side of things. Understand their procedures and requirements so you can help them treat your loved one.

You want this relationship to center on collaboration, communication, and openness. To do this, be clear about your loved one’s needs and listen carefully to the aide.

Find the Best Home Healthcare Near You

As you can see, several things go into finding a new healthcare agency for your loved one. However, this work doesn’t have to be unbearable.

If you’re looking for the best home healthcare Toledo provides, then check out our services today! We take excellent care of our patients and take pride in our service.