Home Care Accreditation Program Hits Milestone
Home Care Alliance of Massachusetts Program Gains 50th Private Pay Home Care Agency
Boston, MA, April 21, 2011 --(PR.com)-- In less than one year, fifty private pay home care agencies have applied and been approved for a new accreditation program promoting quality, safety, and business standards set by the non-profit Home Care Alliance of Massachusetts.
“We have been so pleased with the popularity of this program, which was conceived as a means to promote quality services, ethical business standards, and superior employment practices,” said Home Care Alliance Executive Director Patricia Kelleher. “This isn’t simply a stamp of approval. Private Home Care Accreditation has strict requirements agencies must meet because families have a level of expectation that their loved ones are receiving the best services possible.”
In the absence of meaningful licensure requirements for providers of home care services in Massachusetts, the Home Care Alliance established this Accreditation Program for Private Pay agencies (agencies who are not paid by Medicare or Medicaid).
The standards were developed over several months in consultation with 14 agencies throughout the Commonwealth. These standards require that agencies submit an application and documentation to the Home Care Alliance of Massachusetts. Alliance staff and member agencies then review the application to ensure that applicants meet all of the standards.
Agencies seeking accreditation answer questions in fourteen categories, including training requirements, administrative protocols, and business practices. They are to be required to show documentation in answer to questions regarding services plans between clients and the agency, procedures around responding to complaints and their oversight of caregivers.
“We wanted to provide leadership for an area that is becoming more and more important in Massachusetts,” added Kelleher, “These standards will highlight our agencies’ best practices, which will help guide members of the public as they choose who will take care of their loved ones in their homes. We hope to one day sign up all private care agencies we possibly can in Massachusetts to prove our state’s commitment to quality home-based care.”
A full list of accredited agencies from across the state, and more information about the Accreditation Program standards, is available at www.thinkhomecare.org/accreditation.
About the Home Care Alliance:
With a mission to unite people and organizations to advance community health through care and services in the home, the Home Care Alliance of Massachusetts is a non-profit trade association and advocacy group providing representation, education, communication, advocacy and – ultimately – a voice for the state’s home health industry. Founded in 1969, the Alliance represents more than 180 home care and home health agencies. For more information, visit www.thinkhomecare.org.
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“We have been so pleased with the popularity of this program, which was conceived as a means to promote quality services, ethical business standards, and superior employment practices,” said Home Care Alliance Executive Director Patricia Kelleher. “This isn’t simply a stamp of approval. Private Home Care Accreditation has strict requirements agencies must meet because families have a level of expectation that their loved ones are receiving the best services possible.”
In the absence of meaningful licensure requirements for providers of home care services in Massachusetts, the Home Care Alliance established this Accreditation Program for Private Pay agencies (agencies who are not paid by Medicare or Medicaid).
The standards were developed over several months in consultation with 14 agencies throughout the Commonwealth. These standards require that agencies submit an application and documentation to the Home Care Alliance of Massachusetts. Alliance staff and member agencies then review the application to ensure that applicants meet all of the standards.
Agencies seeking accreditation answer questions in fourteen categories, including training requirements, administrative protocols, and business practices. They are to be required to show documentation in answer to questions regarding services plans between clients and the agency, procedures around responding to complaints and their oversight of caregivers.
“We wanted to provide leadership for an area that is becoming more and more important in Massachusetts,” added Kelleher, “These standards will highlight our agencies’ best practices, which will help guide members of the public as they choose who will take care of their loved ones in their homes. We hope to one day sign up all private care agencies we possibly can in Massachusetts to prove our state’s commitment to quality home-based care.”
A full list of accredited agencies from across the state, and more information about the Accreditation Program standards, is available at www.thinkhomecare.org/accreditation.
About the Home Care Alliance:
With a mission to unite people and organizations to advance community health through care and services in the home, the Home Care Alliance of Massachusetts is a non-profit trade association and advocacy group providing representation, education, communication, advocacy and – ultimately – a voice for the state’s home health industry. Founded in 1969, the Alliance represents more than 180 home care and home health agencies. For more information, visit www.thinkhomecare.org.
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Contact
Home Care Alliance of Massachusetts
James Fuccione
617-482-8830
www.thinkhomecare.org
James Fuccione
617-482-8830
www.thinkhomecare.org
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