The case for using an agency as opposed to hiring someone directly

As anyone who has had to look for home care for a parent, child, or loved one may have discovered, home care rates can be less if you hire help (sometimes referred to as a “private duty nurse”) on your own rather than using a licensed home care agency like Live Free Home Health Care. This could be one of the most important decisions you make in regards to looking home health services or home care, and if you are contemplating hiring on your own to save a few dollars, it’s important to know what your responsibilities will be. Here are some things you should ask yourself:

  1. Are you prepared to place ads, screen responses, conduct interviews, check references, do criminal background checks, and drug screening? Also will you know whether a potential candidate has the right training and skills?
  2. Have you calculated the cost of required taxes? You will be responsible for paying social security taxes, unemployment taxes, and workers’ compensation.
  3. Do you want the responsibility of supervising workers and resolving misunderstandings when they (and they will) happen?
  4. What are you going to do when your caregiver calls in sick? Are you always going to be available to provide back-up? If so, doesn’t that mean you will be on-call around the clock?
  5. What about insurance? Does the person you are considering hiring have professional liability insurance?

A quality, licensed home care agency that directly employs its home care associates will assume each of these responsibilities for you. That’s what we do at Live Free Home Health Care. We have carefully screened our caregivers, done criminal background checks and drug screening. We have made sure they have the right training and licenses. We are responsible for paying our caregivers and making sure the appropriate payroll taxes are paid. If one of our caregivers has to miss work at the last minute, we are responsible for finding a replacement. Live Free Home Health Care has the appropriate insurance and we are licensed by the State of New Hampshire as a Home Health Care Provider.

As your experts in Bristol home health services for the surrounding areas, you will have the comfort of knowing we have a Registered Nurse on-call 24 hours a day and are here to handle the unexpected for you. We will anticipate your needs and respond to changes before a potential problem may arise. Contact us to get started. To view a full list of the communities we serve, visit our Service Area page.