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Home care encompasses a wide array of services but always involves aides, therapists, and nurses providing assistance and care in a patient’s home. Every year, tens of thousands of Massachusetts residents employ a home care agency to help them remain independent and recover from injuries or illness.
Working for a home care provider gives you a rewarding career in a growing industry. What's more, you'll know that your efforts greatly enhances lives.
Home Care: A Smart Career Choice
Home care is a booming industry, both in Massachusetts and in the country as a whole. In 2008, home care agencies in Massachusetts:
- Served 150,000 residents;
- Had a combined annual revenue of more than $745,000,000;
- Employed more than 12,000 people;
Though nurses and aides are their "front line" employees, many agencies need to fill a wide variety of support positions in administration, human resources, finance, marketing/PR, and information systems.
The Home Care Alliance of Massachusetts has more than 160 member agencies from every corner of the state.
Why Do People Choose Home Care?
There are two main reasons why patients choose home care over other options:
- For patients with skilled medical needs and chronic diseases, travelling to a care provider is often difficult or impossible. In these situations, it's easier for the care to come to the patient than for the patient to come to the care. Patients also perfer to live at home than at a nursing home or assisted living facility, and and research indicates that they heal better at home.
- For patients wth non-skilled needs, home care gives them greater autonomy and independence by helping them with daily tasks such as grocery shopping, chores and cleaning, meal preparation, or bathing and hygene. Others simply need companionship and regular interaction with others to help allieviate loneliness.
Many patients use home care for a combination of these needs. Depending on the situation, a caregiver may be needed around-the-clock, once a day, or for just a few hours a week.
Types of Agencies
There are three basic kinds of home care employers/agencies in Massachusetts:
- Medicare/Medicaid Certified home care agencies have met federal requirements for patient care and management. They usually offer a wide range of services – both skilled and non-skilled – and are often associated with hospitals or other large organizations. They are subject to regular surveys by the Massachusetts Department of Public Health for compliance with federal requirements concerning training, supervision, and clinical management. They are responsible for hiring, training, insuring, and screening their employees.
- Private Duty home care agencies tend to focus on non-skilled services, though many of them also offer skilled care. They tend to be smaller and more entrepenurial than certified agencies, and may be part of a national franchise. Like certified agencies, they are responsible for hiring, training, insuring, and screening their employees.
- Placement agencies hire out home care workers as independent contractors. After being placed, these workers become the employees of their patients, who are then responsible for all aspects of their empliyement. Though many of these agencies are reputable and provide excellent services, they carry a higher risk for all parties.
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