A phone call costs little and settles a good deal. Before anyone books a tour, the call shows whether the agency offers the kind of help you need, whether a person answers with a direct line, and whether the agency's details can be matched against the public file. Treat this sheet as a records clerk's script. Write each answer down as it is given, and mark which parts you later confirm from a file.
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.
The Rankings and the Check Sheet
A place on a ranking page, a star average, or a map pin is a starting point. None of them is a check. Before the call, take the agency's name and address to the federal lookups described in How to check any home health agency in five federal lookups, and write down what each file shows. Then use the call to fill the gaps the files cannot answer.
Verification questions
Question one: What service do you provide, in your own words? Non-medical home care and Medicare-certified home health are checked in different files, and an agency may offer one, the other, or both. If the answer is unclear, sort the agency type first using Home health versus non-medical home care: which record to check. Write the agency name exactly as the agency says it, then compare it with the name shown on the file.
Question two: Who is the family's first contact, and when does that person answer? Ask for a name and a direct line, not only a general office number. Ask who answers after the office closes, and whether that person can see the schedule. Mark this as an editorial note in your sheet, since the answer comes from the agency and not from a file.
Question three: What is the office address, and is it the same address that appears in the file? If the agency says it works from another county, ask which counties its aides are assigned to. A mismatch is a question to put to the agency, not a verdict on the agency.
Question four: How long does intake take from the first call to the first visit, and what will the family receive in writing at each step? Ask for the list of documents you will be sent before any shift, and ask when you will receive it. A clear written list is easier to check than a verbal promise.
Question five: Will you confirm the answers to these questions by email? Ask for the reply in writing, and note whether the agency agrees. If it will not put anything in writing, record that refusal on your sheet beside the other answers.
What the call does not settle
A phone call does not confirm that an agency is registered or certified. That is the job of the file, and the call only tells you which file to open. Health questions go to the family's doctor, not to the agency's intake staff. Keep the tour for after the file match is complete, and use How to check a provider yourself, in five lookups to repeat the match on your own if the call raises a question you cannot settle by phone.