CarePathways Nurses Choice

Finding the right home care agency to care for your loved one can be difficult, confusing, and time consuming. In order to assist families to make informed decisions, our nurses have developed a self-assessment survey to recognize home care agencies that comply with industry best practices. Home care agencies that complete the survey and meet certain quality of care standards receive the CarePathways Nurses Choice recognition.

About The Self-Assessment Survey

Self-assessments are used in our society on a daily basis to analyze performance, emphasize best practices, discover areas that need improvement, and set goals. Here are some examples of well-known self-assessments:

• Business Management: Employee Performance Evaluation Self-Assessment
• Financial Services: Payment Card Industry (PCI) Compliance Self-Assessment Questionnaire
• Home Health Care: Medicare's Outcome and Assessment Information Set (OASIS)

The Nurses Choice Self-Assessment Survey asks questions about licensure, patient/employee privacy, tax filing, background checks, insurances, and important company procedures. This data does not imply that one agency is better than another and it should only be used with information you gather from your doctor (or other health care provider), accreditation programs, personal referrals, and testimonials. CarePathways does not endorse, recommend, or favor any specific agency.

We recommend you use the self-assessment survey questions to start a discussion with the agency you are considering.

•   Is your non-medical home care agency licensed by the state?
•   Does your agency have a security policy to protect personal, health and financial info on clients and employees?
•   Does your agency pay employees directly and issue either a W2 or 1099?
•   Are criminal background checks conducted on all employees upon hiring?
•   Does your agency maintain Liability Insurance?
•   Are your employees bonded (theft insurance)?
•   Are your employee's certifications and licensures validated upon hire and reviewed as needed?
•   Does your agency have a procedure to investigate complaints of abuse, neglect, theft and respond to allegations?
•   Does your agency have a 24 hour emergency contact available to both clients and caregivers?
•   Does your agency develop a Plan of Care in person by a health care professional?
•   Does your agency give copies of the Plan of Care to both client and caregivers?
•   Does your agency update the plan of care to reflect changes in client's needs?
•   Does your agency make periodic supervisory visits to the client's home?