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2 Important Things Your Home Health Care Supervisor Should Be Doing

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If you have been recently diagnosed with a serious ailment, you may have opted for in-home healthcare over uncomfortable hospital stays. After all, who wouldn't prefer their own soft bed and cable network over the standard hospital experience? Like any healthcare system, home healthcare has its own set of checks and balances to keep you safe and comfortable. Here are two important things your home health care supervisor should be doing, so that you know what to expect.

1. In-Person Visits Once Every Two Weeks

After talking with your doctor and deciding on home healthcare, your physician will assign a home health care supervisor to your case, who will meet you in your home to talk about your treatment plan. Your home healthcare supervisor's leading role is to oversee your treatment, manage the home healthcare aides who will be looking after your day-to-day care, and to make changes accordingly.

To do these jobs effectively, your home health care supervisor needs to visit you in person after treatment has started. According to national guidelines, home healthcare supervisory visits should be conducted at least once every 14 calendar days. Home healthcare businesses who visit late are considered out of compliance and can be shut down by the state health department for failure to provide quality care to patients.

It is important to note the these supervisory visits should be done in person, not over the phone or through text or email. In-person visits help the supervisor to get a better feel for the patient experience and to understand any challenges that could affect the quality of care. For example, visiting in person gives home health care supervisors the chance to see the cleanliness of your home and the contents of your refrigerator so that they can better gauge how well you are being taken care of.

2. Evaluates The Performance of Health Care Aides

Although you won't see your home healthcare supervisor every day, they are in charge of overseeing the nurses who you do see every day, which is why it is so important to report different issues to your supervisor if they come up. Here are just a few of the topics your home healthcare supervisor will talk about with you during their bi-weekly visits and why you shouldn't worry about telling the truth.

  • Job Attendance: Your home healthcare supervisor will start by making sure that home healthcare aids are reporting to work on time each and every day, and staying for the duration of their shifts.
  • Duties: Depending on your personalized care plan, your home healthcare aids might be responsible for helping you with things such as daily bathing, grocery shopping, house cleaning, or even physical therapy exercises.
  • Training: Your home healthcare supervisor is also responsible for training home healthcare aides to do things like changing bandages, administering medication, and tackling the day-to-day things you need help with around the house.  Home healthcare supervisors can also hold meetings to make sure that all aides are on the same page and taking care of things according to your healthcare plan.

If you know that your home healthcare aides aren't performing their duties according to your care plan, don't be afraid to mention it to their supervisor. Aides who are failing at their job will be coached by the supervisor and monitored closely for compliance. If aides continue to fall short, they can be suspended or assigned elsewhere. The goal of home healthcare is to keep you as comfortable and healthy as possible, which is why supervisors will not rest until you are happy with your care. 

For more information about home healthcare, talk with your physician and ask for a referral for a home healthcare supervisor. Be open and honest with your home healthcare supervisor about your expectations. By being upfront with healthcare workers and reporting problems along the way, you can make your home healthcare experience truly remarkable. For more information, go to this site.


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