How We Provide Care

Step 1: The Intake Call and Care Plan

When you call or fill out Best of Care’s contact form, we gather vital information about your home care needs. We ask questions to get an overall picture of your situation including living conditions, current medications, mobility issues, illnesses or diagnoses. This helps us determine the level of care that is needed. If you select Best of Care, we will create an in-home care plan. We will also provide you with information on financial programs that you or your loved one might qualify for to help support care.

Step 2: Nursing Assessment

If it’s medically necessary, our nurses will conduct a clinical assessment of your or your loved one’s needs. Typically, this is done in the client’s home in the presence of his or her family members. The nursing assessment includes detailed recommendations that become our blueprint for a day-to-day care plan.

Step 3: Making the Right Caregiver Match

Once you approve the care plan, we begin the process of matching you or your loved one with the right caregiver. We take multiple factors into consideration. This includes matching personality types to potentially assigning male aides if regular lifting of a patient is required. We look for caregivers that share your or your loved one’s interests. When possible, we provide caregivers who speak the client’s non-English language. If you or your family is not comfortable with the fit, we will change your caregiver immediately for one more suitable to your needs and comfort level.

Ongoing Supervision and Communication

Best of Care provides routine field supervision and random inspections to ensure safe, competent care and to stress the importance of punctuality, reliability and quality in-home health care. Our caregivers chronicle the care they provide to ensure that all duties are performed and all home care needs are met.

Screening, Recruitment, Education and Training

Caregiving is in many people’s nature, and we look for that special nurturing quality in our employees. Professional caregivers build on their kind, helpful nature with formal in-class and in-the-field training and certification.

Home health aide candidates who are interested in a position with Best of Care must have scored at least 80% on their home health aide exam. We check every candidate with the Certified Nursing Assistant (CNA) Registry to make sure they have completed a home health aide training program, are licensed and do not have any reported incidents on their record.

We screen for candidates who have empathy for the elderly and can perceive small changes in a clients’ behavior or health status. They must have the emotional intelligence and common sense to communicate, follow protocols and report both positive and negative incidents to Best of Care’s nursing team.

Candidates must have a drivers’ license and an insured vehicle at their disposal. We run background checks on every candidate through private agencies that track criminal records at both state and national levels and with the Massachusetts Office of the Inspector General (OIG). Once we’ve hired a home health aide, we continue to check their records with the OIG every month.

The home health aides we hire continue their education and training through Best of Care’s internal programs. Besides regular in-service sessions that keep their knowledge and skills up to date, we’re establishing a home health aide training program that includes a conversion program for active certified nursing assistants who want to become home health aides.