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The Range of Services Provided by Home Health Aides

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The Range of Services Provided by Home Health Aides

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Based in Jamaica, New York, Harry's Home Care offers a full range of services that ease the burden of living independently for the elderly and incapacitated. Harry's Home Care emphasizes quality of care and only accepts home health aides who come with proper referrals and have graduated from approved training programs.

Less costly than hospital care, home care offers a number of advantages, including ready access to friends and family and coverage under Medicaid, private pay, and other types of health insurance. Caregivers typically fulfill a number of related functions, from basic food preparation and shopping, to helping with aspects of personal care such as grooming, bathing, toilet assistance, and dressing.

Home health aides also provide mobility assistance that can include getting patients in and out of wheelchairs and wheeling patients short distances. Their health care duties extend to ensuring that those in their care take the proper medications at the right time, as per a doctor’s prescription. Another vital function home aides provide is friendship and emotional support, which helps improve the mental outlook of patients living alone and requiring home assistance.

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At Harry's Home Care, a team of professional nurses and home health aides provide support to elders wishing to continue to age in at home. Harry's Home Care provides not only direct care but also support for families as they work to keep their loved ones safe.

Falling stands out as the leading cause of injury and injury-related death in persons 65 years of age and older. Statistics suggest that between 25 percent and 33 percent of older adults fall each year, yet many of these falls are preventible.

Fall prevention starts with a conversation between the patient and his or her doctor, who can advise on whether certain medical conditions or medications may be causing balance issues that increase a patient's risk of falling. A doctor can also suggest appropriate exercises, such as walking or tai chi, as gentle and safe physical activity plays a key role in improving a patient's balance, coordination, and strength.

Elders and their families should also look for potential hazards in the home. Objects, low furniture, and loose rugs can cause tripping if placed in commonly used pathways. Reaching may also cause a fall, so daily necessities such as food and clothing should be easily reachable. Showers and bathtubs should have slip prevention mats and bathtub seats, as falls are common on wet surfaces. Stairways should have hand rails and hardwood stairs should have non-slip treads. The whole house should be well-lit, particularly those areas that the person inhabits during nighttime hours.

Finally, all elders should have well-fitting shoes that do not slip or slide. Shoes should have non-slip soles and should fit the feet well, so that a floppy shoe does not become a tripping hazard. For many elders, investing in such shoes can not only help to reduce falls but also make walking more comfortable.

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Queens DA false allegations against Harry's Nurses Registry concerning workman's compensation fraud.

The office of the Queen's County district attorney charged Harry's Nurses Registry with theft from employees, claiming that the agency deducted from employee's payroll checks, and instead pocketed the money rather than purchasing workman's compensation insurance. These claims are false, as payment was made to a subsequently cancelled policy under the NY State Insurance Fund.

Read the Main article Here
View the cancelled insurance policy and copies of checks made to the state insurance fund.
Companionship Exemption for Agency Employed Home Care Workers Ends
Effective January 1, 2015

Executive Summary: On September 17, 2013, the U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) issued its long-delayed Final Rule revising its regulations to eliminate the Fair Labor Standards Act's (FLSA) companionship exemption for agency-employed direct care workers. While the effective date of the revisions is postponed until January 1, 2015, home care agencies will be exposed to significant wage and hour liability they never had before.
What Has Changed?
Reversing a decades long interpretation, the DOL's Final Rule states: "(t)he new regulatory text precludes third party employers (e.g. home care agencies) from claiming the (companionship) exemption for companionship services or live-in domestic service employees." Thus, under the new regulation, all agency-employed direct care workers who are currently considered exempt will be protected by the FLSA's minimum wage, overtime, and record-keeping requirements.
What Effect Will the Changes Have?
The Rule exposes home care agencies to significant wage and hour liability in each of the following areas:

overtime for all hours over 40 in a workweek at time and one-half a worker's regular rate (the regular rate includes hourly differential pay that will increase the rate on which overtime is calculated);

wages at a worker's regular rate for additional hours claimed on 24-hour cases;

wages for travel time between cases or to training and medical exams;

wages for calls to work during "duty-free" time;

wages for in-service training time; and

wages for required annual medical exam time.

Although the DOL's Final Rule did not change its position on "hours worked" by non-exempt employees during travel time, sleep time, meal periods or on-call, its comments interpret how these provisions will be applied to agency-employed direct care workers. For example:

Sleep Time: Currently, "where an employee is required to be on duty for 24 hours or more, the employer and employee may agree to exclude a bona fide meal period or a bona fide regularly scheduled sleeping period of not more than eight hours...[if] adequate sleeping facilities are furnished by the employer, and ... the employee's time spent sleeping is usually uninterrupted." Regarding agency-employed direct care workers who may not have been subject to this rule under the companionship exemption, the DOL "believes that sufficient time exists before the effective date of [the] Final Rule for the employer and employee to enter into an agreement..." Further, "while the employer may not terminate an employee for refusing to enter into an agreement... the employer would not be required to agree to a continuation of the same terms and conditions of employment." Thus, if the direct care worker will not sign an agreement, the agency may assign the worker only to shifts of less than 24 hours

Meal Periods: Currently,"[b]ona fide meal periods are periods where the employee is completely relieved from duty for the purposes of eating a regular meal." Thus, a direct care worker "is not relieved from duty if he or she is eating with the consumer and is required to feed or otherwise assist that individual with eating."

Off-Duty Time: Currently, "if an employee is completely relieved from duty and is free to use the time effectively for his or her own purposes, such time periods are not hours worked." Thus, a direct care worker "who is required to remain on call on the employer's premises or so close thereto that he or she cannot use the time effectively for his or her own purposes is working while on call and must be compensated for such time."

Rest and Waiting Periods: Currently, if an employee is on premises and could be summoned to work at any moment, this is compensable time, unless excluded under the bona fide meal, sleep period or off-duty rules. Thus, a direct care worker who takes a rest period of short duration, running from 5 to 20 minutes, must be paid for this time.

Travel Time: Currently, "travel time from job site to job site during the workday must be counted as hours worked." Further, "[t]hough Medicaid may not provide reimbursement for time that an employee spends traveling between clients, nothing in the Medicaid law prevents a third party employer from paying for that time." Thus, a direct care worker who travels to more than one worksite for the employer during the workday must be paid for the travel time spent between each worksite.

Overtime Costs: In the DOL's opinion, "continuity of care does not necessarily require a single direct care worker, but rather can involve a small group of direct care workers intimately familiar with the consumer and his or her needs." The DOL reasons that "[a]ssuming at least two direct care workers are currently used to provide 24-hour care, 7 days per week, adding a third direct care worker may allow effective management of overtime while introducing relatively little disruption to continuity of care." The DOL adds: "[m]odifying work patterns to increase the number of direct care workers... does not preclude the industry from offering consumers the option to pay a higher rate in return for fewer direct care workers."

The Bottom Line: One thing is certain: the new costs imposed on home care agencies will challenge their ability to administer and operate their agencies and stay in business. Perhaps the most revealing comment by the DOL in the Final Rule is its statement that "the primary effect (of projected transfers, costs and net benefits of revisions to the FLSA regulations)... is the transfer of income from home care agencies... to direct care workers."

If you have any questions regarding this Alert, please contact the author, Stephen Zweig, Partner in FordHarrison's New York City office, who has counseled and defended home care agencies for over 30 years, at szweig@fordharrison.com

Our mission is to provide the best health care solutions to our patients. Creating an environment of dedicated nurses who are committed to providing high quality nursing care, we are building strong relationships with patients and health-care facilities we service.
Harry's Nurses Registry, Inc. is a licensed Home Care agency committed to assisting all health-care facilities since 1991. We have provided nurses to all different demographics ranging from pediatric to geriatric nursing, whether it be in a private home health care, nursing homes or hospitals. We service all five boroughs and Nassau County. Additionally, our agency has numerous well trained Certified Nursing Aides and Home Health Aides. We specialize in ensuring that our patients receive the best health care through our RN's and LPN's. Our home care programs are among the best in the state.
We deliver critical care to patients in great need, such as those needing ventilators or g-tubes. We screen and add high-tech nurses and RNs to our roster every day. By developing a close relationship with out patients, we ensure that every case is well planned and care is carefully provided.
We have a highly qualified dependable, and honest staff who are recruited from reputable training facilities and they have years of experience in their respective fields. Our staff is ready to receive referrals and to promptly respond to all calls. Nursing placement can be made within reasonable time frames.
Service is available 24 hours a day, seven days a week.

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The office of the Queen's County district attorney charged Harry's Nurses Registry with theft from employees, claiming that the agency deducted from employee's payroll checks, and instead pocketed the money rather than purchasing workman's compensation insurance. These claims are false, as payment was made to a subsequently cancelled policy under the NY State Insurance Fund.

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Harry's Home Care - Live-In and Visiting Health Support

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Since 1991, Harry's Home Care has provided skilled health and personal care services to patients across the New York metropolitan area. The company's diverse team of well-trained professionals can provide skilled nursing and home health support as well as housekeeping, personal care assistance, and other related services.

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Harry's Home Care provides a diverse range of services for individuals who need support but prefer not to move into a facility. Drawing on a staff of nurses as well as home health aides and live-in service providers, Harry's Home Care offers help with medical needs as well as activities of daily living.

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Get To Know More About Harry's Home Care On WiseIntro Portfolio - Providing a Beautiful Website That Works For You, Helping You Raise Your Profile & Attract New Clients

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Harry's is a business in New York. Visit Harry's' website from their page.