Q: What services does Lori’s Angels provide?
A: Lori’s Angels provides homemaking and personal care services to individuals in private homes or facilities. We usually provide care on an ongoing basis but we can provide one time only or intermittent services as well. We can escort individuals with special needs to family events (weddings or family reunions) or stay with the consumer so that their caregiver may attend events. Lori’s Angels also provides emergency care for our consumers if necessary. We can be the PERS emergency contact for individuals if they have no one that can respond to their alarms. Lori’s Home Health Angels provides skilled nursing (LPNs or RNs) and phlebotomy services (lab work). All services can be ongoing, intermittent or on a one time only basis. Whatever you need to be able to stay at home safely is what we work to provide.
Q: Are services available 24 hours a day, seven days a week?
A: Staffing to cover cases is available 24/7. Services can be contracted for as little as 1 hour up to 24 hour coverage. We will do our best to get an “angel” to you as quickly as we can regardless of the time or day you call us. Our on call staff is able to accept referrals for services at all times.
Q: How quickly can services be provided?
A: Generally services can be started within 48-hours of your request. Often times we can start on the same day.
Q: What are your office hours and is there an on call system for after hours?
A: Lori’s Angels office hours are Monday through Friday 9am to 4pm. We forward our office telephone calls to a cell phone after hours so that a staff member will answer your calls at all times. The on call person is usually the scheduling supervisor or nursing supervisor. Both are intimately involved with scheduling and consumer care issues so they are able to address every after hours issue that may arise. There is always a Registered Nurse available if necessary to talk with a consumer/caregiver. Occasionally a caller may reach voice mail. On those rare occasions, please leave a message or call back in a few minutes. Voice mail is sometimes received when the on call staffer answers another call at the same time you call in. We respectfully request that consumers, caregivers and aides call us during business hours whenever possible as when we are taking calls after hours, we are not always within reach of a computer and are often preparing our families dinner, driving, doing our personal errands or our own personal care, etc.
Q: What kind of training will my aide receive before they start my services?
A: All of our “Angels” are screened pre employment to ensure that they have a basic understanding of person centered care. A caring and compassionate personality is important. Preference in hiring is given to applicants that have successfully completed a nurse aide training program. We look for applicants with strong clinical skills as most of our consumers require those specialized skills. We check references and conduct an extensive interview with each applicant. We require a clear criminal background check, a child abuse clearance and a yearly PPD (tuberculin test). We provide new employees with an orientation to our agency, advise them of what we as an agency expect of them and instruct them on how to properly complete all of our required documentation. Additionally, all of our employees complete a training packet consisting of 16 core topics relating to the care of the elderly and disabled. Depending on the complexity of the case assignment and/or the experience of the new employee, we provide in the home training under the guidance of an experienced home care aide or nurse.
Q: Are the aides provided with any ongoing training?
A: All of our aides receive ongoing training under the supervision of a Registered Nurse. Trainings are scheduled in 3 hour blocks every 3 months. We base our instruction on the needs of our aides and their consumers at any given time but include topics such as standard precautions/hand washing, safe lifting, diets, range of motion, dealing with emotional losses etc. We also provide team building activities to motivate our employees to work together for the good of our consumers.
Q: How are your aides monitored for quality care?
A: Lori’s Angels has a staff of 4 Registered Nurses that supervise our aide staff. These nurses are involved with the care planning process for every consumer, the training of aides generally and for specific cases and who make home visits to assess the quality of care each aide is providing. Three of these nurses also work in our office and so keep up with the needs of the consumers and abilities of the aides on a daily basis. Our Registered Nurses recommend aides for particular consumers based on their knowledge of the skills required and personalities involved.
Q: Is there a written plan of care for each client? Are clients and family members involved in putting it together or reviewing it?
A: Our care plans are established at the request of the consumer, caregivers, Registered Nurse and aide. We put our plans in writing so that everyone knows what the aides are to do when caring for a particular consumer. Our office nurses review the aide’s flow sheets weekly to ensure that the care plan is being followed. Care plans are continually updated based on the needs of the consumer and requests of caregivers and aides. Our Registered Nurses do an assessment when we start services and re-assessment every 90 days to ensure that we are doing everything we can for every consumer to help them live a quality life—both physically and mentally, within our time constraints. We do not charge for the home visits made by our Registered Nurses to initiate or update our plans of care.
Q: Why do the aides ask me to sign their papers?
A: Our aides fill out “flow sheets” for every visit made. We ask you to sign them as a confirmation that they were with you at your home. The flow sheets ensure that the tasks that have been requested by a consumer, caregiver or identified by our nursing staff on the plan of care are being addressed with each visit. This paper allows our nurses to know on a daily basis how our consumers are doing and how they are responding to the care we are providing. For our waiver and options consumers, the signed flow sheet is necessary in order for us to be able to bill for the services we provided. We keep notes in a spiral notebook so that caregivers and co-workers have a means of communication with each other. The notes are meant to state what has been done and how the consumer is doing to enable others to continue with the appropriate care.
Q: Can my aide drive me to appointments or run errands for me?
A: Yes, as long as you have signed the waiver of liability. Our “angels” can drive the consumers vehicle as well as long as it is in good working order and properly insured (proof required). Part of our job is running errands however we respectfully request that they be kept to a minimum. Errands should be completed once a week and to the closest stores available. This ensures that the expense to the aide for driving and to the consumer in time billed is kept reasonable. If there is regular or excessive driving involved we must charge an additional fee for that service. We will bill you at the IRS allowable rate so that we can compensate our employees for their direct expense.
Q: What type of cleaning can my aide provide?
A: Unlike most non skilled agencies that provide “light” housekeeping in the consumer areas only, our aides can provide all the “normal” cleaning that would be done in a home on a weekly basis. That includes: dusting, vacuuming, cleaning bathroom fixtures, kitchens, mopping or scrubbing floors, laundry, dishes, picking up mail, taking out the trash. Any task that an aide is competent to perform is allowable. All homemaking services are done as time allows. While we are in your home to care for one individual, we can provide home support as time allows that assists the caregivers as well so that they can concentrate their efforts on providing care to the consumer when we are not there.
Q: Will I always have the same aide?
A: We try very hard to keep the same one or two aides out with each consumer. There are times when we must send a fill in to cover for call offs or vacations. We make every effort to match our consumers with the skills and personalities of our aides so that they are comfortable with each other.
Q: What if I do not like my aide? Can I request a new one?
A: Not every personality meshes with every other personality. Every effort is made to assign an aide that our nursing supervisor feels will complement you however; we acknowledge that there are times when the aide does not suit a particular client. It does not necessarily mean that the aide isn’t good; just not good for you. We will at your request, pull that aide and provide you with someone else. Please let us know as soon as possible if things are not working out to your liking. We will make every effort to find that special “angel” for you.
Q: Will I be able to change hours?
A: Yes. Sometimes the hours that you requested initially might change over time with a change in your needs or perhaps you have appointments that necessitate a change in your schedule. Changes can be easily accomplished. We schedule our staff a week at a time and appreciate a week’s notice for any changes so that we can adjust your aides schedule to accommodate your need. Our philosophy is to make the schedule work for the consumer and family not the agency. You come first. Your needs, your requests, your schedule. We will do everything possible to make sure the schedule you want is the schedule you get.
Q: If I need to cancel services, how much notice do you require?
A: We require a 48-hours notice to cancel services. Cancelations without 48 hours notice will be billed for the scheduled hours anyway. We require this notice so that we can reschedule your aide for other hours. Our aides depend on their income and it isn’t fair to them to lose time through no fault of their own and without an opportunity to make it up elsewhere. Obviously, in emergency situations, we can cancel services with little or no notice without charging you for the time.
Q: Can my aide cook special meals?
A: Absolutely. Many of our consumers have religious restrictions or are on prescribed diets. Our aides are happy to prepare any meals our consumers or their caregiver’s request. The nurses in our office also help our staff with meal planning for special diets and can provide additional information to our consumers to help them comply with their doctor’s orders.
Q: What is the procedure if a staff person does not report to work when scheduled?
A: Lori’s Angels uses a telephony system to ensure that our “angels” are at work as scheduled. The aides dial an 800 number to Log in at the beginning of their shift and Log out at the end. This system ensures that consumers are billed for only the time that was provided by the aide. This system also sends an email alert to our office staff notifying them of a “missed” visit if the aide does not log in on time. This allows us to intervene quickly if someone didn’t show up for work.
Q: Is Lori’s Angels licensed by the state?
A: Presently there is no licensure for home care agencies in Pennsylvania. Legislation was passed in 2006; however, the regulations have not been completed. Lori’s Angels complies with all of the proposed regulations so that once the measure is enacted, we will be able to apply for and receive our license without incident. Lori’s Home Health Angels, the skilled branch of our company is licensed by the PA Dept. of Health. The PA Dept. of Health completes an onsite review of our consumer and employee documentation to ensure that we comply with the licensure regulations and then reissue our license yearly. Under our skilled branch, we can provide nursing services to individuals in their homes. We are not Medicare certified and therefore cannot bill Medicare or private insurance for skilled visits. The types of skilled visits we typically provide are medication set ups, injections such as insulin, tube feedings, hospice private duty support to administer medications, etc.
Q: Are the aides insured?
A: All our nurses are fully insured and bonded. We carry workers compensation, malpractice insurance, general liability insurance, non company owned auto insurance and a dishonesty bond which cover all employees.
Q: How does the agency bill for costs?
A: Billing is processed monthly or more frequently if requested by the consumer. All Waiver and Options billing is completed on a monthly basis as well directly to the Commonwealth. Some long term care insurance policies cover home care services and we will gladly bill them directly for your care. One time only consumers are requested to pay in advance for the services and an adjustment will be done for additional fees or refunds once services are completed. Fees for lab work are collected at the time of service.
