By Christopher Pearson

Family-owned The Roads Home Health Care recently received a four-star rating from The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, putting the company in an elite group of providers the agency entrusts with delivering the highest quality skilled nursing care in Florida. Just a few years ago, there were more than 900 licensed home health care companies in Miami-Dade. Today, there are fewer than 300. This decline is due to an increase in quality requirements and clinical scrutiny and higher state and federal standards for accreditation.

“For all of us at The Roads Home Health Care, caregiving is a passion,” said Chief Executive Officer Andy Hernandez. “My mother had a stroke and passed away when I was only 3 years old. She passed away 28 years later from complications of her illness. I decided that I would dedicate my life to helping those in need after watching nurses take care of her.”

Chantel Hernandez, Andy’s sister and managing partner in the family business, felt the same calling. “I thank God every day for the caregivers who were the eyes and ears for our family while my mother was alive,” she said. “Without them, we wouldn’t have had her as long as we did.”

Since 2006, The Roads Home Health Care has specialized in providing skilled nursing and therapeutic care to homebound patients enrolled in Medicare in Miami-Dade and Broward Counties. Within the next two years, the company will expand to Florida’s west coast and as far north as Vero Beach on the east coast. About 95 percent of The Roads Home Health Care’s Medicare patients are referrals from hospitals and skilled nursing centers. Physicians also refer their patients directly to the agency and family members may request the company by name with their physician.

“Among our main areas of expertise include providing physical therapy, occupational therapy and skilled nursing services to patients under the care of a physician,” explained Andy. “Whether a patient is recovering from a stroke, a knee replacement or congestive heart failure or being treated for diabetes, we have a highly trained and compassionate staff of therapists and nurses ready at a moment’s notice.”

One factor differentiating The Roads Home Health Care from other providers is the family-like feeling created by hiring multilingual professionals to work directly for the company rather than utilizing contractors. “Our people are what set us apart,” said Chantel. “We know how important attention to detail is to our patients and their families. From the top down, every member of our staff recognizes that the difference is in the details.”

Maintaining continuity and excellence in skilled nursing care relies on a steady flow of communication with family members and the patient’s doctors, says the Hernandez team. The Roads Home Health Care team is careful to ensure patient condition changes are shared and medication instructions and doctors’ orders are closely followed to keep every patient healthy and comfortable. The company always verifies the physician’s protocol to ensure care is delivered according to the doctor’s wishes. The care team also assists patients and families with assisted living placement through Florida Senior Placement.

“It takes an army to properly run a home health care company. Each patient has a team working on his or her behalf. This includes intake coordinators, schedulers, case managers, nurses and therapists,” explained Andy. “And we stay on top of the 30-day readmission clause, trying our best to keep a patient comfortable at home rather returning back in the hospital too early.”

Chantel added, “We’re an extension of the hospital at one-third the cost. With as many as 10,000 Americans enrolling in Medicare every day, the availability of high-quality home health care is more critical than ever.”

For more information about The Roads Home Health Care, call 305-860-7797 or visit www.TheRoadsHH.com