Strategic Home Care
Often when we think of teamwork, we don’t equate it with senior care. As the owner and operator of a nonmedical home care agency I can tell you there is nothing more important in senior care than working as a team with everyone involved in caring for the patient. At every stage of care, it is so important that your care providers are working together and communicating to create that all-important care team. This multidisciplinary approach to care allows health care professionals with various areas of expertise and knowledge, to work together toward the goals of their clients.
This includes physicians, nurses, discharge planners, social workers, both family and paid caregivers, and home health nurses and therapists, all working towards a common goal of successful outcomes for our patients.
It’s not uncommon for us to reach out to the primary care physician with concerns about our client’s, or to request an evaluation from home health if the client is not currently receiving their services.
We are incredibly blessed to have amazing partners in our area, and it’s made an incredible difference in the level of care we are able to provide. One of the first phone calls I make when we are assessing a new client’s care needs is to the home health coordinator. As the nonmedical side of the care team, we want to ensure we understand the needs of a client and the family from the start of care.
Home Care from Various Perspectives
Reaching out to the home health coordinator not only helps me to get a full picture of the scope of care, but it also opens the lines of communication and lets them know we are here to help support their nurses, aides, and therapists. Our caregivers are an extra set of eyes and ears for the healthcare staff and the family when conditions change, or a need arises. We rely on our partners in healthcare, as much as they rely on our caregivers and staff working with the clients and families.
After calling the home health coordinator for one of our new clients last week, I walked into an assessment and the home health nurse was already there checking in. The family told me how the nurse “sung our praises” before I got there, once she heard Beyond Home Care was also starting the case. Having a great relationship with our home health partners (and excellent reputation for care) helps put our clients and their family at ease. This may be the first time they needed help with care, and that alone can be overwhelming and unsettling. When our clients know we communicate and work together with other members of their healthcare team, it adds a level of comfort and confidence in our services. We know we can’t do it all ourselves and we need to work with our partners
The bottom line, working as a team with other healthcare disciplines provides the best outcomes for our clients and at the end of the day, that is what’s most important.