5 Features Private Home Care Agencies Bring to the Table 

Home care companies come in all shapes and sizes. They range from individual dayworkers to large corporate agencies and franchises. In the middle of this mix are small to mid-sized private home care agencies. For many, what they bring to the table is the right mix of personal care and personal protection.  

What are some of the features that set private home care agencies apart?  

Personal Care 

When we talk about personal care in reference to the benefits of organized small- to mid-sized home care agencies, we’re not just talking about the care that caregivers like Certified Nursing Assistants (CNA) and Home Health Aides (HHA) provide. We’re talking about having clinical directors and administrative personnel who know every client by name. We’re talking about an entire organization that is personally invested in each client and each case.  

Everyone assigned to that case on every level, from the aides and nursing staff in the home up through the administration and operations personnel, will know the case and the needs of the client. This is much different than compartmentalized corporate care. There are no numbers here. Just names and needs. 

Partners in Action 

That level of personal care translates directly into teamwork and a partnership approach to care. With everyone aware of the client roster and nuances of client cases, there is no way for partnership and collaboration not to exist. Staff work collaboratively to develop care plans, solve issues of all types, and see that plans are implemented effectively. Similarly, they are there to support and provide coverage for each other in a way that a single caregiver cannot, and a large corporation may not, have the mechanism for. 

With small and mid-sized private home care agencies, there is another type of partnership in action. That is the partnership between clientele, their families and representatives, and the care agency staff. These private care agencies are small enough to be able to provide personalized care in partnership with all involved, but also large enough to have access, expertise, and a wide range of care and knowledge. 

Community and Connection 

Smaller private home care agencies are much more community based than large franchises or corporations. Their outreach within the community is also more extensive than that of individuals working alone.  

There are a number of benefits to working with a private care agency that is active and based in the community. Chief among those benefits are the advantages of working connections and professional networking to provide, access, and support the other services that may be needed.  

Cost Control 

Private home care agencies have direct control over their services and costs. They are flexible enough to recognize that not every home care client will have the same needs or the same roster of care, hours, and services. Corporations, on the other hand, have a more set list of fees and services. This puts mid-level private care agencies in a position to create a care plan and schedule of services that is more in step with the needs of the individual.  

This translates into cost containment options that can make private home care services much more affordable to clients, while still being large enough to offer an array of services to cover all client needs. With a private agency, no two cases or their billing are likely to ever look the same, because those services and the associated costs are not the same. They are dictated by the case and the needs of the client, not the bottom line of a corporate spreadsheet. 

Accessibility 

Private care agencies have a level of accessibility that does not exist at the corporate level. This is related to that personal care and connection discussed in the beginning. The levels of administration and direction that exist in small and mid-level private care agencies exists to provide all necessary services and personnel management. But it is not so extensive as to act as a layer of distance between clients and administrators.  

With the best private home care agencies, you are just as likely (probably most likely) to have the owner, chief, or director answer your call in the middle of the night as you are to get a care worker on the phone. In times of less critical calls, your questions, needs, and concerns are equally likely to be addressed by the Clinical Director and management team. This is more of that full-service, personal attention and case management that was talked about before.  

Effective home care and the best possible outcomes for clients and patients comes from finding the right balance of care, services, support, cost containment, and professionalism. At the more extreme ends of the home care spectrum, this can be difficult to achieve. The experience of many is that the best way to find that balance is by working with a mid-sized private home care agency.  

Private Home Care Services is a mid-sized private home care agency grown from a family-based agency, into an extended family-based agency. The PHCS family extends to include trained, quality private caregivers and professional administrative and clinical staff. Clients and their family representatives are treated like family, too. PHCS strives to strike that “just right” balance of quality care, affordability, and top-level care provision that makes every case, every client, and every outcome the best possible success.