Editorial: Most families end a home care service with a phone call and a thank you. The record that follows is thin. Months later nobody can say which visits were scheduled after the last one was kept, who still has a way into the house, or what the final statement covered. This guide walks the closing in order so that each step leaves a paper behind.
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Step one: Give notice in writing. Editorial: A call can start the process, but the paper is what counts. Send a short note by a method that leaves you a copy, and name the day the service should end.
From the file: Read the notice terms in the agreement you signed. Note how much notice it asks for, who must receive it, and whether it must be signed. If the agreement sets no notice term at all, ask the agency to name one in writing before you rely on it.
Step two: Pin down the final visit. Ask the agency to confirm in writing the last scheduled visit, its day and its hours, and whether any visit booked after it will be cancelled. Ask who on the agency side will confirm each cancellation.
Step three: Ask how the last visit is recorded. Ask what the agency uses to record the final arrival and departure, who signs the last entry, and how you can get a copy of the visit record for the closing period.
Step four: Sort the household papers. Editorial: Before the last shift, gather what the household holds and what the agency holds. Keep the agreement, the task sheet, the contact list and any notes on the house. Ask the agency to return anything it keeps from the house, and to list those items in writing.
Step five: Get the final statement in writing. Ask for the final statement for the account before you approve any last payment. Match each line to a visit on the record from step three. Ask the agency to explain in writing any line you cannot match, and do not approve a line you cannot match.
Step six: Confirm what stops. Ask for written confirmation that scheduled visits have ended, that no new visits will be booked under the household name, and that the agency will not contact the house about future care unless you ask it to.
Step seven: Confirm access is closed. Ask the agency to state in writing what it holds that opens the house or its systems, and that it has returned or will return each item. Note who on the household side collects each one. A verbal promise is not a return.
Step eight: File the closing letter with the agreement. Keep the final letter, the final statement, the visit record and the confirmations together. If a closing term was unclear, the written answer you received is the one to keep.
Step nine: Check the agency later with the public record. If you ever need to refer to this agency again, run the public lookups again at that time rather than relying on what you remember. The five federal lookups are explained here: How to check any home health agency in five federal lookups.
What this guide does not do. It does not tell a family what a closing term means in law, and it does not decide whether an agency acted fairly. Editorial: If a closing term is unclear, ask the agency to explain it in writing and keep its answer on file.