BrightStar Care in Bucks County
Today I want to cover the topic of selecting the right type of home care agency when you’re loved one may need help. There are basically two types of companies that provide private duty home care – a nurse registry and an agency – and knowing the difference can be very important when you’re looking for care. A nurse registry is a referral service that does not employ care-givers but they use independent contractors to perform their services. In this model, you will pay the care-giver directly which effectively creates an employer-employee relationship between you and the care-giver. The registry will then get a finder’s fee for every hour that the care-giver works. This model can be more cost effective but there’s a couple of things you should be aware of. First of all, you are going to be responsible for any payroll taxes as they are an independent contractor and you’re paying them directly. You could also be responsible for any missed hours, medical expenses or any other issues that may arise for a work related injury that the care-giver may sustain while performing services for you or a loved one. While these work related injuries do not occur often, just be aware that one of them can be a very costly problem if you’re the employer of record. On the other hand, the agency model is one in which the company uses only company employed care-givers to perform the services so the agency pays the care-giver and the agency is responsible for the payroll taxes, the worker’s compensation and general liability insurance. This is understandably a little bit more money than a registry because the agency has the additional expenses of paying the payroll taxes and the insurance, but the company then assumes all of the liability and in the case of work related injury, medical expenses and any lost wages would be the responsibility of the agency. In either case, you should always be able to meet the management of the company, or the owner of the company. You should be able to discuss your specific needs. You should get a customized and precise plan of care for the care-giver to follow and you should also understand how the agency or registry screens their people, trains and supervises them, and what the back-up plan would be in case there’s a call-out or in case of inclement weather when the primary care-giver cannot get to work. You and your loved ones deserve expert and professional and reliable services and they should be delivered by a company which discloses to you how they conduct business and whether they use independent contractors or direct employees and if you’re assuming any liability for the care-givers themselves. If you need help with home care, please feel free to call me direct: Brian Fitzpatrick Owner -215.857.5454
