One of the most difficult and emotional challenges your clients may face is how to find the proper home health care for their aging parents. You can help your clients through this challenge by educating them about the questions to ask a prospective elder care provider.

A Checklist of Important Questions

1. What is the reputation of the candidate provider? There are several ways to assess the quality of care and service a provider gives, including public reviews, asking to speak with the adult children of current clients and ratings found on Medicare.gov.
2. What procedures are used for staff background checks? A provider should, at a minimum, perform independent criminal background checks, reference checks and confirm educational credentials.
3. Is the provider properly licensed, adequately insured and are its employees bonded? This will help ensure that your client works with a properly licensed provider and is protected against potential harm (e.g., employee theft).
4. How does the provider select and train its employees? The right fit for a parent in need of home care will turn on the capability and compassion of the individual care provider. Understanding how a provider selects those individuals and provides the proper training will offer insight into how the in-home caregiver will relate to, and interact with, the patient.
5. What services are provided? The range of services a home health care provider offers may range from basic tasks, such as helping with daily living activities (e.g., bathing), to more skilled services, such as transportation to doctors’ appointments or administering medicine. Make sure there is a match between the needs of the patient and the services a provider can offer.
6. How are in-home caregivers supervised? Quality control over the services provided can be more reliably ensured when there is a structure around the supervision of employees, including on-site visits from a supervisor.
7. How does the provider communicate with the family? Regular communications about the health and care of a client’s parents are essential to identify care issues that may need to be addressed.
8. What are the costs of the services? It’s important not only to learn about the costs of services, but the circumstances under which additional costs may be levied. Determine if costs are covered by Medicare, or if a provider accepts any private insurance plan that the parents have in place.

For investment professionals who wish to provide their clients a more comprehensive list of questions, this Health Care Provider Questionnaire may be a good start.

See referenced disclosure (2) at https://blog-dev.americanportfolios.com/disclosures/