Introducing our Direct Care Partner
Brightstar Care!

The biggest advantage of in-home care is that it allows older adults to age in place and avoid making the move to an institution, and at a lower cost than hospitals and institutions.  Most seniors feel most comfortable with their home environment and, with the recent advancements in medical care treatments, almost all types of care traditionally delivered in physicians’ offices and facilities can now be provided in the comfort of home.  In-home care also allows family caregivers- who are often the primary caregivers, to carry on with their life priorities like work, child care, spousal relationship, and more time for themselves.  The cost of home care is generally 20-30% less than the cost of care in hospitals, rehabilitation facilities, or assisted living.  In addition, research shows that individuals who are recuperating from illness, injury, or surgery heal more quickly when recovering at home instead of a medical facility, and they are also less likely to be re-admitted to the hospital.

Many families try to hire caregivers privately to avoid the added cost of employing a home care agency.  While this approach can sometimes work, it often fails because the individuals hired are often not licensed or trained to provide the specific services needed.  Using this method, the family is the employer and bears the responsibility of ensuring the caregiver is reliable, trained, and able to deliver a high quality of care.  The need to ensure backups when (not if) the caregiver calls out, as well as managing the payroll, taxes and insurance often becomes overwhelming.  A family can easily lose many of the benefits of home care because of the efforts required to maintain care.  A quality agency will hire and train skilled, compassionate caregivers and nurses and provide all of the administration services at no extra charge.  Our hiring, training, and administration practices are best-in-class and provided at no charge- we are responsible to ensure that the continuum of care is maintained and the quality of care is at the highest levels.

Caregivers and nurses in-home care agencies often work without direct supervision on site it is critical that they are experienced, well trained, and capable of providing superior and compassionate care without a supervisor on site.  To ensure this level of care is delivered, we assign a Registered Nurse to every client and every caregiver.  The RN develops the plan of care for the client and trains the caregiver on the client’s specific needs.  The RN oversees all levels of care- even if only companion care is required- and is available 24 x 7 to respond to the client and the caregiver if there are questions or needs.  The RN also re-assesses the client and updates the plan of care whenever there is a condition change, but not less than every 60 days.  This oversight allows us to know that the client is receiving the best care possible and is safe and comfortable at home.

Reputable home care agencies are both licensed and accredited.  Licensing by the Commonwealth of Virginia ensures that the agency complies with the regulations of the Virginia Department of Health and that caregivers and nurses provide services within their scope of practice.  Obtaining accreditation- by The Joint Commission or other accreditor- is voluntary.  Very few agencies seek this accreditation, it is expensive and difficult to meet the strict standards.   Choosing a licensed and accredited agency assures you that the quality of care provided is among the highest in the country.  Our agency is both licensed by Virginia and accredited by The Joint Commission- in fact, we have achieved the highest level of accreditation for 9 consecutive years.

We know that the needs of our clients often change over time and, sometimes, are sudden and unforeseen.  A top-level home care agency will be flexible and responsive in order to meet these needs.  Many agencies will require the client and family to schedule a minimum number of hours per day or week and, sometimes, will require them to commit to an extended contract period.  These requirements place limits and restrictions on how and when care will be provided- forcing the client and family to fit the agency’s needs instead of the family’s.  We do not have a contract period or minimum.  We provide in-home care for as brief as an hour, a few days a week, or as much as 24 x 7.  We provide both skilled and non-skilled care for clients of all ages and families can cancel or adjust care with as little as 24 hours’ notice.

Care needs vary widely and most agencies only provide companion and personal care for seniors- assistance with bathing, dressing, toileting, and other activities of daily living.  But many people need nursing services provided by an RN or LPN as well as personal care provided by a caregiver. If an agency cannot provide skilled care services like wound care, medication management, ostomy care, injections, and infusions, etc., the family is forced to engage and manage another service provider.  As a one-stop agency, we can provide the entire spectrum of care services in the home our nurses are highly trained in skilled care and we can craft a personalized care plan the provides the right mix of skilled and non-skilled with both nurses and caregivers.  In addition, unlike most agencies, we provide care for clients of all ages- from infant care to senior care.  We have skilled pediatric nurses, provide childcare in the home, and care for adults under 60 who need assistance due to chronic conditions like ALS, Parkinson’s, Chronic Heart Disease, and Arthritis.