Frequently Asked Questions About In-Home Care

Yes. Our Director of Nursing and our Director of Care meet with each client prior to beginning care. They will assess your specific needs, your residence and your desires in an aide to help you determine the type of help, the amount of help, and the correct person to aid you.

Our aides can assist with the activities of daily living (transferring/ambulation, bathing, grooming, dressing, eating and toileting) as well as a number of additional tasks such as meal preparation, laundry, light housekeeping and accompanying you on errands. Whether you need a little temporary help to recover from a surgery, for example, or need long-term help, we can assist you.

No, we don’t. If circumstances change and you want to discontinue service we respectfully request one day’s notice. We do have a simple service agreement that we ask you to sign which states why you are hiring us and what you agree to pay.

Call us to discuss your situation. In the case of an emergency, we can often send an aide to you within hours. Though, typically it’s best to have several days notice so we can schedule assessments with our Directors of Nursing and Care. This allows us to determine the care that’s best for you, and assign an aide that will be a good fit.

We are licensed by the State of Maryland as a Residential Service Agency by the Department of Health and Mental Hygiene. We are also bonded and insured. Our Director of Nursing and our Director of Care has many years of experience in the field.

We started Comfort Home Care in 1999 and have been providing exceptional care for more than two decades. We are a family-owned local business with deep roots in the community.

We conduct in-person interviews with all aides before hiring them. We also check references and do criminal background checks on all aides. All of our aides are licensed by the state as either Certified Nursing Assistants or Geriatric Nursing Assistants. Each aide also has up-to-date health screenings and CPR certification.

Yes you can. In fact, we encourage your participation in this process. We believe strongly in all aspects of care – physical, emotional and social. We work very hard to make certain that we match our aides with the client’s personalities. We will introduce you to potential caregivers so you can get a better idea of who you will like.

Yes we do! We work in our clients’ private homes, as well as independent living facilities, assisted living facilities, nursing homes and even hospitals. We coordinate our care with the staff of the particular facility to ensure you receive the best care.

You don’t have to worry about a gap in coverage. We will send out a substitute to cover the shift until the aide is better.

We do. You don’t exchange any money with our aides. We take care of managing their schedules and their pay.

Yes. Our Care Managers are on call 24 hours a day.

We pride ourselves on the high level of care we provide our clients. We do our best to pair our clients with aides that are the “best fit” for them. The same aide or aides will work with you regularly. This helps you develop a working relationship and comfort level with them.

We charge time-and-a-half during the daytime hours on New Years Day, Easter Sunday, Memorial Day, July 4th, Labor Day, Thanksgiving, and Christmas Day.

Yes! We work with most long-term care insurance companies.

Costs may vary slightly based on the needs assessment, however our rates are very competitive, especially when you take into account all the additional charges added by some agencies. We keep our pricing programs simple and easy to understand.

Timely assessments. Please allow our nurses to make reassessments on time by answering/returning their calls to schedule assessments and setting up for automatic reassessments with 48 hour reminder.

Accurate and Timely Information. Our clients are responsible for providing our office with accurate information at all times. Any changes made to the client’s needs or requests for service changes must be made immediately with our office staff. Please note that our aides will not make changes without being notified of these changes by the office.

Respect. Just as our aides are to our clients, our clients are responsible for treating our clients with respect and dignity.

Compliance with safety measures. Please know that it is our responsibility to keep our aides safe. Please do not ask our aides to perform or take part in activities that are not outlined in the service plan.

Our aides are not permitted to:

• move heavy furniture
• performing garden or yard maintenance
• walk, feed or clean after pets
• transport people not outlined in the service plan
• perform skilled nursing or nursing assistance outside of the service plan
• handle or manage funds
• use your debit/credit cards
• leave the residence without you during scheduled working hours
• speak about personal matters
• accept gifts of any form
• create doses out of pill bottles

Should there be any questions about the ability of your aide to carry out specific tasks, contact the office directly. Our aides have also been instructed to contact the office directly when asked to perform duties outside of the service plan.

Timely payments. We ask that all invoices be paid within 30 days of date on invoice.

Client Accessibility and Accommodations. Anytime you do not understand something in your client service plan, have questions about your aides skills, instructions provided to you by our office staff, etc., please contact the office.