Two agencies can sound alike on the phone and still sit in different public files. This desk checks them in separate lists, and a family comparing them should do the same. The first step is not a star count or a review total. It is a sort: which category does this agency say it is in, and does the paper support that answer?

Local option: New Plan Care gives families in the St. Louis area in-home help so a parent can stay home: companionship, help with bathing and dressing, meals, and overnight care. Call (314) 405-0887.

Why the sort comes first

Medicare-certified home health agencies and non-medical home care agencies are different kinds of business. Home health agencies appear in the federal certification files and carry their own survey results. Non-medical home care agencies answer to a different set of rules and usually do not appear in that federal certification list. A search that returns only one kind tells you nothing reliable about the other. The desk guide on which record to check lays out the split in plain terms: Home health versus non-medical home care: which record to check. The Missouri split is covered here: Home health and home care in Missouri are two different categories.

Editorial note: the explanation above is the desk's reading of how the files are organized. The file names and search steps come from the linked guides, so check those pages before you rely on the sort.

The check sheet for the sort

  1. Write the category the agency gives on its website and in the first call. Put it on your sheet beside the agency name.
  2. Ask which category the agency holds and which file its proof sits in. Ask for the name of the state or federal file, not only the words we are certified.
  3. For a home health agency, search the federal certification list by the agency name and street address. The listing should show a certification status and a city. Confirm the address against the zip lookup here: Medicare-certified home health agencies by zip code, St. Louis metro.
  4. For a non-medical home care agency, ask which state registration or business license it holds, then search that name in the state record. Write the registration identifier on your sheet.
  5. If the name appears in the wrong file, or in both files with different addresses, stop. Ask the agency to explain the difference in writing before you go further.
  6. Run the full check from start to finish using this step-by-step path: How to check any home health agency in five federal lookups.

What a file does and does not tell you

A certification record shows that an agency is listed and in what status. It does not show how a particular aide will behave in your parent's home, and it does not replace asking questions. A survey result is a snapshot of a file, not a promise. Treat each file as one line on the sheet, and write down what the line says and what it leaves out.

Editorial note: this section is the desk's own caution, not a finding from any single record.

Verification questions

  • Which category does this agency hold, and what file holds the proof?
  • What is the certification or registration identifier on that file, so I can look it up myself?
  • Does the agency offer both kinds of service? If so, which staff and which paperwork go with each one?
  • If the needs in the home move from one kind of service to the other, who decides the switch and where is it written down?
  • Is the address on the federal list the same as the office address you gave me? If not, which one should I use when I call or visit?

Write the answers beside the file lines on your sheet. An agency that answers each question with a file name and a number is easy to verify. An agency that answers with a general reassurance has given you nothing to check, so record that as well.