How Can an Assisted Living Facility Partner With a Home Care Agency?

An assisted living facility can partner with a home care agency by creating a clear process for resident-specific referrals, agency approval, caregiver access, communication, and service coordination. The outside agency supports individual residents without replacing facility employees, licensed clinical services, or the community’s regulatory responsibilities.

How Does an Assisted Living Facility Start a Home Care Partnership?

The facility should start by identifying resident needs that may be appropriate for supplemental, one-to-one non-medical care. It can then review its policies, select a partnership model, and establish consistent standards for outside agencies.

Common models include:

• A non-exclusive referral list
• An approved-provider program
• A resident or family-initiated arrangement
• A coordinated referral for a resident returning from a hospital or rehabilitation facility

The National Center for Assisted Living describes private caregivers as potential partners who provide supplemental services to individual residents. However, these caregivers are not community employees and should not be supervised or counted as facility staff.

This distinction should remain clear throughout the relationship. A home care agency supports the resident named in its service agreement. It does not provide facility-wide staffing or satisfy the assisted living community’s staffing obligations.

A broader overview is available in home care partnerships for assisted living facilities.

What Should the Facility Define Before Contacting a Home Care Agency?

Assisted living home care partnership requirements should be defined before agencies are invited to provide services. The facility should determine what support residents commonly request and how outside caregivers will operate inside the community.

Important questions include:

• Which resident-specific services may be permitted?
• Who can approve or request outside care?
• How will resident consent be documented?
• What insurance and screening documentation will be required?
• How will caregivers enter, sign in, and identify themselves?
• Who will receive scheduling updates or incident reports?
• What happens when an outside caregiver is absent?
• Under what circumstances may caregiver access be restricted?

NCAL recommends written policies covering background checks, insurance, orientation, confidentiality, emergency procedures, communication, absence coverage, and the outside caregiver’s permitted role. It also recommends legal and insurance review because requirements vary by state and organization.

When health information must be shared, the facility should follow applicable privacy rules and its approved procedures. HHS states that covered entities may share information directly relevant to a person’s involvement in care or payment when the individual permits it or does not object, depending on the circumstances. (HHS.gov)

How Should an Assisted Living Facility Evaluate a Potential Home Care Partner?

To evaluate a home care agency partner, the facility should verify qualifications through official records and examine how the agency manages caregivers, services, and problems.

Due diligence may include reviewing:

• Current agency licensing
• Insurance documentation
• Caregiver screening and training
• Agency supervision
• Service boundaries
• Backup and replacement procedures
• Incident escalation
• Confidentiality practices
• Pricing and cancellation policies
• Experience in shared residential environments

Indiana separately licenses residential care facilities and Personal Services Agencies. The Indiana Department of Health identifies attendant care, homemaker services, and companion services as services provided by licensed Personal Services Agencies. (Indiana Government)

The facility should also confirm that the agency understands the difference between non-medical home care and skilled home health care. More detailed evaluation criteria can be addressed through choosing a home care agency partner for assisted living.

What Steps Move the Partnership From Agreement to the First Resident Referral?

The assisted living home care partnership process moves forward through a controlled resident referral, intake assessment, care-plan development, and coordinated service start.

A practical sequence is:

1. Discuss the option with the resident or authorized representative.
2. Obtain appropriate permission to introduce the home care agency.
3. Share only the information needed for initial contact.
4. Complete the agency’s intake process.
5. Schedule a resident-specific needs assessment.
6. Confirm the requested services fit the agency’s non-medical scope.
7. Agree on the schedule, payment arrangement, and facility access procedures.
8. Match a caregiver based on needs, preferences, qualifications, and availability.
9. Confirm communication and incident-reporting contacts.
10. Review the arrangement after services begin.

Nana Cares provides Personal/Attendant Care, Companion Care, Homemaker Services, Respite Care, and Overnight Care through an intake, free needs-assessment, care-planning, and caregiver-matching process. (Nana Cares LLC)

A referral does not guarantee acceptance, coverage, staffing, or a specific start date. Facilities developing a repeatable process can review home care referral partnerships for assisted living.

Discuss an Assisted Living Partnership With Nana Cares

Nana Cares works with seniors, adults with disabilities, families, and community partners across Indianapolis and surrounding Central Indiana communities.

Assisted living leaders can contact Nana Cares to discuss resident-specific services, agency qualifications, referral procedures, or a potential partnership. Each request is reviewed according to the resident’s assessed needs, facility requirements, service scope, payer authorization, scheduling needs, and caregiver availability.