Happy New Year

A new year on the way and new start to this blog! And a resolution to post more faithfully! It's hard to finish 2007/start 2008 with an issue that has run here before: the screening, qualifications and competencies of home care workers. Earlier this week, Newsweek Magazine ran a rather scathing piece ( Danger in Our Parents Homes) on home care transactions in which workers were spotlighted as at best "incompetent" and at worst thieves and "predators." The stories were heartbreaking and harmful to home care's reputation; but the conclusion that the industry is totally unregulated and "plagued" by corruption - I think went a bit to far - with little proof.

First off, much if not most of the home based health care provided in this
state - some $350 million last year - is provided by Medicare-certified entities that must meet fairly strict federal standards and that are audited and surveyed regularly. These entities must meet federal standards in all lines of business, including privately paid transactions. Second, Massachusetts requires criminal background checks of all workers going into homes to provide care. Yes, the system is flawed in that the data that agencies have access to is limited, but again agencies are by all accounts complying.

Most importantly, the systems in the state set up to handle complaints about quality of care ( the state Department of Public Health) or fraud (the Attronet General's office) handle very few home care cases, considering the amount of visits provided last year (more than 8 million) to about 1 in 10 Massachusetts elders.

Because of the isolated nature of home-based caregiving, home care workers have to be very carefully screened and trained. The story is not just the few cases where this sadly did not occur, it is also the hundred thousand satisfied customers who found the service to be invaluable to themselves and their families.