FAQ for Service Providers
Businesses Serving the Senior
The following are questions frequently asked by service providers and other businesses that serve (or wish to serve) the senior and the family caregiver. If you have a question that is not answered here, please contact Senior Approved Services. Our business hours, Monday - Friday from 9:00 am to 5:00 pm, eastern time or by appointment to accommodate your schedule. Telephone: 440-471-4179. - How does my company get started?
- What states are you offering this?
- Why is Senior Approved Services offering a Certification?
- Isn't this just another consumer rating kind of service?
- Where do you feature Senior Advocates and Certified Senior Approved services?
- What are the basic requirements?
- How do you know the consumer wants a service like this?
- How will the certification help my business?
- Is the survey a comparative study?
- What is third-party validation?
- What types of questions are on the survey?
- What is the return ratio of the survey?
- How do you survey my clients, maintaining compliance with HIPAA?
- Is Senior Approved Services a referral service?
- My business can not pay for clients, we adhere to the Safe Harbor Act.
- I offer a service (or product) that is not necessarily an 'elder care' service. However, I am trying to tap into this market. Can I participate in this certification?
Simply complete the request form on Request Application You will then be directed immediately to our application page which includes all forms for you to complete and return.
Your service may be located anywhere within the United States. Senior Approved Services serves seniors and family caregivers throughout the United States.Few families live within the same city and many primary family caregivers (the ones in charge of helping the senior) live in a different state altogether.
We developed this process so that we can help the consumer choose the best service possible for self or loved one. The Certification tells the consumer that we (Senior Approved Services, LLC) have already completed a background screening of the business -COUPLED - with the fact that each business's clients have rated the service at or above a 90% approval rating.The consumer - which we define as the adult child - wants a simple quick method to locate a VERIFIED safe reliable service for his or her loved one. The care recipient - which we define as the senior or the disabled - has the right to expect excellent care. The results of your survey prove that you are an honest company, one that is concerned about the safety of the senior and one that has a history of quality care.
When you begin with us as a Senior Advocate, we verify that you have a legitimate business license, appropriate business insurance, safe hiring practices, credible business references, determine that there are no civil law suits or state violations pending against your company.We then issue the appropriate number of surveys (based on the size of your service area) for your clients to complete over the course of the year. The survey results of the survey process must prove an overall 90% (or higher) satisfaction rating from those receiving services from you in order for you to continue as a Senior Advocate and eventually earn the Senior Approved Certification.
Consumer rating services and web sites are gaining in popularity because consumer's do tend to make decisions based on the reporting of other people's experiences with a company. We differ in a couple of ways. First, unlike other consumer rating services where anyone can write anything, we substantiate the credibility of the reporting. Some of these consumer rating sites may or may not be accurate in that it is fairly easy to 'pump' up favorable reviews and rather impossible to prevent negative reviews from being published. Next, when we issue the survey to a business's client base, we are surveying a combination of current AND past clients. We survey enough of the client base to give, as humanly possible, a fair overview rating of the client base's perception. Only those businesses that achieve a 90% (or higher rating) are subsequently awarded the Senior Approved Certification. We take a positive approach and focus only on featuring those businesses that have been rated as Excellent. You will not see within our sites a listing of those businesses that failed to reach this very high level of excellence.
Once accepted, you do not pay for advertising with us. Your company is featured within the Seniors Approve web site. We have a Senior Advocates page, a Category of Service page, we're developing a State Directory page, and we have a Caregivers Resource page.
Each of our avenues of service - how we serve the senior, the family caregiver, the elder care business, the social worker, the discharge planner, the employer (human resource departments and EAP groups) is based on the market research and focus group studies that we invested three years and thousands of dollars in to.We know - without a doubt - that what we offer and how we deliver our services - is what is in demand - not just by the senior and the adult child - but also by those in this profession. We know the consumer wants the following based on our research:
- Simplification. A one-call solution to locate all services that a senior may need, now and in the immediate future
- Assurances. A method to quickly differentiate the multiple listings of choices.
- Continuity. The need for a 'point' person that may be called upon as often as needed for additional assistance
- Care Management. An affordable program that would continue to follow up with his or her loved ones while using a service.
- Advocacy. A non-threatening, positive program that, if needed, would advocate for the senior
We provide all of this to the senior at no charge.
Promoting your service as a Senior Advocate or as a Certified Senior Approved service immediately relays to potential clients that your business is a safe reliable company to contract with and that you have a verified history of quality care.It literally STOPS THE SHOPPING!
No. The results of your survey is raw data. We provide you with a comprehensive report of what your actual clients and or patients perceive of your commitment to excellence in service. This has been compared to a combination 'business consultation and a secret shopping service'.
Third-party validation is a powerful pre-closing marketing tool. It, quite simply, increases your client base. You refer potential clients to us. We recommend, endorse, describe your service, and pre-sell clients on your behalf, all without charging you a fee for the client, lead, or referral.
Every question on the survey was developed as a result of our initial research and survey of seniors and family members that had experienced the task of searching, interviewing, selecting and contracting with a service in the past.Each survey contains THE questions most important to the consumer who is deciding what company to entrust the care of their loved ones to. The survey questions provide your clients the opportunity to report his/her experience as a client with you. We ask questions concerning safety, customer service, scheduling adherence, contract & fee schedules, and other questions specific to your type of service. Each survey is reflective of the particular category of service. For instance; a home care service (both medical and non-medical) has a completely different survey from an assisted living facility. The survey for a financial planner is completely different from a handyman service. Would you like to see a sample survey reflective of the type of service that you offer? Call us, we're happy to share this with you. 440-471-4179
We average a 90 per cent return ratio and require at least a 70 per cent return ratio.
The survey is mailed from your office. You address the outside envelope.Your client is not required to provide his or her name or any other contact information in this process.
No. A referral service works much differently than Senior Approved Services. We offer a complete ongoing service for seniors, caregivers and the service providers within our network. Once we have helped a senior select a Certified Senior Approved Service, we remain actively involved. We are the link between the person receiving care and the business providing the care. This makes the experience much easier and comforting for the senior - and translates in to a higher client retention.
Any health care business, service, resource that may accept vouchers, Medicaid or Medicare payments may want to review what the Safe Harbor Act is. Check out Safe Harbor Senior Approved Services is compliant. The elder care businesses in our network - NEVER - pay for a client, lead or referral.
I offer a service (or product) that is not necessarily an 'elder care' service. However, I am trying to tap into this market. Can I participate in this certification?Yes. As a matter of fact, many folks forget the fact that seniors, especially those that are trying to maintain independence at home, are in need of the same services any homeowner would be. We love to certify handyman services, heating & cooling, landscaping, painters etc. Why? It is a known fact that the highest incidence of fraud against a senior, is when they contract outside services such as these. The certification allows Senior Approved Services to help this senior remain at home and contract with services that we know are both excellent and safe.
FAQSERVICEPROVIDERS
|
