People rely on home care services to provide care for patients within the comfort of their homes. Because of health and safety concerns, more and more people choose to avail themselves of this service. Hence, you can make this a great business. 

Are you running a home care agency? If yes, you need to ensure full caregiver compliance by meeting strict procedures. This article is all about how home care agencies can meet caregiver compliance requirements.

Know The Home Care Regulatory Requirements 

Home care agencies are subject to state departments of health regulations and the federal Center for Medicare Services (CMS). Here are the most important guidelines and regulatory requirements for home health agencies: 

• Clinicians: Home care agencies must check the clinicians they’re employing. Each agency must have a clinical supervisor and an administrator who’s a licensed physician or a nurse with more than a year of experience. The supervisor or administrator should be available at all times in person or through a phone call, overseeing home care operations.  

• Appropriate Patients: You need to ensure you only cater home care services to appropriate patients, which means they came from an acute care hospital with an order from a licensed physician for home care.   

• Safe Conditions: When it comes to health and safety, states have varying regulations for agencies. You need to adhere to safety protocols such as protecting patients from abuse. Caregivers should know how to handle drugs properly and ensure medical supplies are clean before use. Learn more about how you can comply with safety regulations below.

Know The Caregiver Requirements 

Certified nursing assistants (CNA) are commonly assigned to home care settings, in which they assist patients in routine activities such as grooming, feeding, and taking vital signs. Before they can take care of patients, aspiring caregivers should meet minimum educational requirements and continuing education. 

Here are the standard caregiver requirements: 

• Certified nursing assistants or caregivers must be high school graduates. 
• Certified nursing assistants completed at least 75 hours of nursing assistant training approved by the state.
• Caregivers must be cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) certified. 
• CNA caregivers should have a clean background check.  
• They should pass state competency exams to earn certification.

Support Caregiver Continuing Education 

Continuing education helps caregivers stay updated on the latest patient care developments such as innovative solutions for bedside care and mobility. Every state has different requirements for caregivers continuing education. Therefore, it’s crucial to choose the best learning platform for agencies in which caregivers can obtain the right training they need.

You can let your caregivers undergo training or continuing education online by choosing a platform providing an excellent quality learning experience with the following features and benefits:

• Assign Classes: Choose a caregiving training platform that allows you to assign classes to your caregivers and set the due date for them to complete a lesson. By assigning individual classes to your caregivers, you can prepare them better to handle specific clients. For instance, a caregiver who would take care of a patient with Alzheimer’s should take related classes to ensure in-depth knowledge and skills in managing this type of patient. 

• Customized Curriculum: You can edit the caregiving curriculum based on state requirements for a personalized learning experience. A good caregiving training platform can auto-assign classes based on state requirements. 

• Monitor Progress: You should be able to view the training progress of your caregivers in one place. 
• Notification: Choose a caregiving learning platform with built-in automatic reminders to ensure your caregivers’ compliance. 

Follow CDC Recommendations  

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) created an interim guideline for home health service personnel in compliance with current health and safety protocols during the COVID-19 pandemic. Because home care agencies are most sought, your agency should comply with CDC recommendations to safeguard both your employees and patients. 

This interim guidance applies to healthcare personnel or caregivers who coordinate the home care and isolation of people with suspected or confirmed COVID-19 infection. It’s also applicable for personnel taking care of people who are undergoing testing. 

Here are the important considerations for home care: 

• The patient must be stable enough for home care. 
• For suspected or confirmed COVID-19 patients, they should have separate bedrooms and bathrooms because sharing space isn’t allowed. 
• Household members should adhere to precautions by wearing a facemask. 
• Caregivers should comply with infection prevention and control or IPC practices set by the CDC.

Use Of Digital Technology In-Patient Care 

Digital health cure is a term coined during this time of the pandemic, which involves the use of various innovative solutions such as telemonitoring and wearables to track symptoms. Caregivers can also use these digital solutions to comply with health and safety protocols, protecting themselves and their patients.  

Caregivers can help patients how to use modern medical devices to help with mobility and self-care, most especially the elderly. In this way, patients can be more independent while limiting close contact.

Home care agencies can help their caregivers embrace digital cures by training them before deployment to suspected COVID-19 patients. Educating your caregivers about the latest home care updates and trends can help them handle patients more confidently.  

Here’s a quick list of the advantages of embracing digital technology in-home care: 

• Convenience  
• Increased caregiver productivity  
• Promotes patient independence
• Helps meet safety and health compliance  

Check Caregiver Requirement Changes  

Don’t hesitate to check any changes in caregiver compliance requirements with regulatory agencies, including your state’s health department. In addition, you can check the guidelines set by the CDC and the World Health Organization (WHO) when developing your standard operating procedure or home care agency policy for caregivers.

In Conclusion 

Home care agencies can help meet caregiver compliance requirements by supporting their continuing education. In this way, they’ll be updated with the latest health and safety protocols, most especially when handling suspected or confirmed COVID-19 patients. 

Besides continuous learning, it’s important to monitor your home care personnel regularly to ensure good health status. When your caregivers are healthy, they can deliver your home care services better, which is good for your business. Consider the ideas mentioned here as you improve your home care operations.