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Safety Solutions for Every Room of Your Home
July 23, 2024
Safety Solutions for Every Room of Your Home: The Bathroom The
Bathroom
We’re starting a new blog series where we go room by room in a “standard home” and highlight safety solutions for each room in the form of durable medical equipment that we carry in our retail showroom. This is a great way for us to educate our customers on all the products we offer as well as serving as a reminder of products that loved ones or caregivers may not have considered.
This week’s room we’re going to highlight is the bathroom. Studies show that the bathroom can be one of the most dangerous rooms in the home as you age. Falls can be very common in the bathroom due to the slippery surfaces combined with the probability of reduced mobility. According to the National Institute on Aging, 80% of senior falls occur in the bathroom. We’ve got a variety of bath safety products to help you or your loved one feel more safe and secure in the bathroom including:
• Grab Bars
o Help give more security and balance with installing grab bars rails in the shower and/or bathtub
o These are available in different lengths depending on your need
• Bath Safety Rails
o Provide safety and comfort while getting in and out of the bathtub with two gripping surfaces
o Adapts to a variety of bathtubs and installs without tools
• Shower Chairs/Benches
o Take away the pressure to stand for prolonged periods of time with a shower or bath chair
o Available in different sizes/styles depending on your need
• Transfer Benches
o Take away the fear of getting into the tub with a transfer bench- no more worry of tripping
o Available in a variety of sizes with additional accessories available
• Elevated Toilet Seats
o No more worrying about sitting down or standing up from the toilet
o Variety of styles and very easy to “install” to existing toilets
• Toilet Safety Frame
o Designed to provide extra stability when sitting or rising from the toilet
o Works for those recovering from a surgery as well as anyone with balance issues
These are just a few of the bath safety products we carry in our retail showroom. Stop by today and let one of our staff show you all the available options to make your bathroom safer for you or your loved one.
Check back soon to see our next admission in the “Safety Solutions for Every Room of Your Home” series!
We’ve started a new blog series where we go room by room in a “standard home” and highlight safety solutions for each room in the form of durable medical equipment that we carry in our retail showroom. This is a great way for us to educate our customers on all the products we offer as well as serving as a reminder of products that loved ones or caregivers may not have considered. Our most recent blog in this series focused on safety solutions for the bedroom. This week’s blog will highlight products that can make the living room safer. Whether you are having mobility issues, recovering from an injury, or just aging gracefully, we’ve got some great solutions to help make you feel safer in the living room. Here’s a few options to consider: Seat Lift Chair • Help aid in standing from a seated position • Elevates feet about the heart for help with circulation issues or edema • Multiple position options for added comfort and convenience depending on need Stair Lift • Enables those with limited mobility to navigate multi-level living • Keep home accessible with worry free access to your living room from an upstairs bedroom, etc. EZ Stand’N’Go Assist • Provides stability and balance when sitting or standing from your chair or recliner to prevent dangerous falls • Easily stand or sit without caregiver assistance, preventing back pain from lifting and skin tears from pulling • Use the stand assist as an alternative to a cushioned chair arm rest for better support and balance These are just a few of the home safety products we carry in our retail showroom. Stop by today and let one of our staff show you all the available options to make your living room safer for you or your loved one. Check back soon to see our next admission in the “Safety Solutions for Every Room of Your Home” series!
Next up in our Meet the Team series is Marilyn Fish, another customer service representative! 1. How long have you worked at Carolina Homecare and what is your current role? I have worked with Carolina Homecare for a total of eight (8) years. I originally came to work for CHC on 2/22/2010 as a scanner and file clerk. I was transitioned to a customer service representative after a year. Due to the loss of the Medicare bid and lack of work, I was laid off on 9/28/2016. I came back to work on 10/22/2021 as a CSR/Retail associate to help out when Jackie was going through her breast cancer surgery & recovery. After Jackie’s recovery I agreed to stay on part time three days a week.. I take calls from customers with questions as to what we have available in our store and help customers that come in looking for durable medical equipment equipment for their home. I also take calls from Open Arms Hospice nurses for equipment for their hospice patients. I help in selling the Golden Technology products & keep the retail store stocked with the durable medical equipment that comes in for our walk-in customers. 2. What is your favorite part of your job at CHC? My favorite part of my job is helping the people find the correct equipment they need to help themselves or their loved ones to keep them at home with their family. 3. What is your favorite way to spend your free time? I love traveling and spending time with my family and friends. 4. If you could live anywhere else in the world, where would it be? I have always said I’d love to live at Daytona Beach but have been told I’d get tired of that. I always say then let me go live there until I get tired of it!!! 😊
We’ve started a new blog series where we go room by room in a “standard home” and highlight safety solutions for each room in the form of durable medical equipment that we carry in our retail showroom. This is a great way for us to educate our customers on all the products we offer as well as serving as a reminder of products that loved ones or caregivers may not have considered. Our first blog in this series focused on bathroom safety. This week’s blog will highlight products that can make the bedroom safer. Whether you’re recovering from an injury, surgery, or just aging gracefully, there are plenty of products we provide that can make the bedroom a more comfortable and safer place. Just a few of those are: • Hospital Bed o Help prevent falls during sleeping or resting with rails and adjustable height o Easy and safe patient transfer with adjustable options including raising and lowering bed o Pressure relief with options to raise/lower feet and legs to improve circulation • Replacement Hospital Bed Mattress o If a patient has had a hospital bed for an extended period of time, we sell the mattresses separately as a replacement offering if the original mattress has had too much wear • Bed Rails and/or Bed Assist o Prevent falling or rolling out of bed o Provide support when patient has difficulty getting in and out of bed or adjusting position once in bed o Can be variety of lengths/materials as well as adjustable • Bed Ladder o Easily sit up in bed if you don’t have a need for bed rails- wide ladder design assists individuals in rising to a seated position in bed o Great for someone who is recovering from surgery, expectant mothers, or someone with lower extremity weakness o Easily installs to any bed without the need for tools and can support up to 300 pounds • Overbed Table o Provide a stable surface over a soft mattress that can easily be rolled away when no longer needed o Gives more activity options for patients with limited mobility or those who have to stay in bed for recovery o Can also be used over chairs for patients with more mobility who are not confined to a bed These are just a few of the bedroom safety products we carry in our retail showroom. Stop by today and let one of our staff show you all the available options to make your bedroom safer for you or your loved one. Check back soon to see our next admission in the “Safety Solutions for Every Room of Your Home” series!
Celebrating 40 years is a huge milestone! This wouldn’t be possible if our previous owner, Steve Frantz and his dad hadn’t had the vision for Carolina Homecare Medical Equipment Center 40 years ago in 1984. This company has served families in the upstate of SC for 40 years. I can’t tell you how many times we have customers come in that tell us we took care of their grandmother, their parents, a longtime friend, etc. We even had a customer last week that came in and when she found out I was the owner, she told me she and her husband had been long-time friends of Wayne and Pat Frantz, Steve’s parents. That was so neat to hear because I worked with Ms. Pat when Steve hired me back in 1996. Steve retired in 2004 and I purchased the company from him. He was a great mentor and is still such a special friend along with his wife, Monica. He still is sending new customers our way every opportunity he has! We wouldn’t be here today if it weren’t for our faithful customers who continue to shop with us and who so graciously tell others about us. We have a very special mission to not only care for our customers who are going through either some temporary health challenges or sometimes chronic health problems, but to also care for and support those family members that are helping their loved ones through these difficult times. Caregiving is sometimes a very stressful responsibility, and we try to be a valuable resource to that family member as well to help them navigate all of it. That is why during the month of August while we celebrate our 40 year anniversary, we want to say thank you! Our entire retail showroom is 20% off during the entire month to show you our appreciation. We know times are tough right now with increased prices all around and so this is our way to trying to help our customers with a small thank you! Please know we appreciate each and every one of you. We know it can be easier to shop online or at the big box stores, but you choose us and that means everything to us! - Jackie Bolt
Who is ready for another edition of our Meet the Team series? Next up is Casey Bolt, our marketing coordinator. August is the perfect month to "get to know" Casey since she celebrates a birthday on August 22! Casey has been a fixture at Carolina Homecare since before she was ever employed here. As the daughter of our owner, Jackie, she has been around since 1996 when Jackie joined the CHC family! Let's get to know more about Casey! 1. How long have you worked at Carolina Homecare and what is your current role? I’ve worked at Carolina Homecare off and on since I was probably 14 or 15 years old. My Mom (Owner and President, Jackie Bolt) has worked here since 1996 and I used to love coming to work with her when I was younger and coloring pictures for the staff. When I got older, I started cleaning the offices (at the time we had Greenville and Spartanburg locations) for extra money on the weekends. I would also work during the summers as an administrative assistant. Since graduating from college in 2010, I’ve helped off and on in a part-time marketing capacity and am currently filling that role now. I was also the manager of Carolina Homecare’s sister company, For Every Woman, for 11 years. That business recently closed in May of this year, so I am back to helping part-time in my marketing coordinator role. 2. What is your favorite part of your job at CHC? Probably the staff. I’ve grown up “in front of” most of these people, so it feels very much like family to me. Most of them have known me since I was a child so there’s a level of comfort and camaraderie at Carolina Homecare that is unlike a lot of other professional relationships I would have at another company. They’ve all seen me grow into the person I am today and that feels very special. 3. What is your favorite way to spend your free time? I love to travel. I love to visit Walt Disney World and take cruises, but I also love to visit North Myrtle Beach for a more “local” option. I really enjoy running races. I’ve combined my love of running and travel into a great option by doing Run Disney races at Walt Disney World in Orlando, Florida. I’ve run distances ranging from 3.1 miles all the way up to 26.2 miles at Disney World and it’s a great way to combine two of my favorite pastimes! I'm planning to run my second full marathon in Disney next January! 4. If you could live anywhere else in the world, where would it be? If money wasn’t an option, I would love to have a big house on the beach! Disney World is my “happy place”, but the beach is my healing place. I would love to be able to wake up to the waves crashing every morning and enjoy my coffee with a view of the ocean. My only problem is I DON'T love sand and I hate how hot it gets sometimes but I guess you can’t have it all! 😉
A question we get almost weekly from customers is if insurance will pay for a seat lift chair for themselves or their loved ones. Here is what we can tell you: Medicare and all other insurance companies that we used to be contracted with only covers the seat lift mechanism of the lift chair, not the chair itself. Medicare considers the lift mechanism medically necessary, not the chair itself. Below is a portion of the coverage guidelines from the Medicare Local Coverage Determination for the seat lift mechanism. A seat lift mechanism is covered if all of the following criteria are met: 1. The beneficiary must have severe arthritis of the hip or knee or have a severe neuromuscular disease. 2. The seat lift mechanism must be a part of the treating practitioner’s course of treatment and be prescribed to effect improvement, or arrest or retard deterioration in the beneficiary's condition. 3. The beneficiary must be completely incapable of standing up from a regular armchair or any chair in their home. (The fact that a beneficiary has difficulty or is even incapable of getting up from a chair, particularly a low chair, is not sufficient justification for a seat lift mechanism. Almost all beneficiaries who are capable of ambulating can get out of an ordinary chair if the seat height is appropriate and the chair has arms.) 4. Once standing, the beneficiary must have the ability to ambulate. The practitioner ordering the seat lift mechanism must be the treating practitioner or a consulting practitioner for the disease or condition resulting in the need for a seat lift. The practitioner's record must document that all appropriate therapeutic modalities (e.g., medication, physical therapy) have been tried and failed to enable the beneficiary to transfer from a chair to a standing position. We currently stock seat lift chairs in our retail showroom but do not file insurance for them. We are happy to show you all the available options in terms of price, style, and features as well as discuss possible payment options through CareCredit financing if you qualify.
Summer is officially here and for you that (hopefully) means vacations but more specifically CRUISES! Don’t let mobility issues interfere with your chance at a relaxing cruise vacation. The Buzzaround CarryOn Scooter from Golden Technologies is the official cruise approved scooter! Many cruise lines do not allow oversized scooters or other mobility devices due to their size. Devices like this are not allowed to be stored in the hallways and must be easily stored in the passenger’s stateroom. Carnival Cruise Line has even begun to email passengers booked in accessible staterooms ahead of their sailing to remind them of this policy so there are no surprises on embarkation day. These emails state that the scooters can not be stored in public areas or corridors and must be able to collapse for safe storage. This is to ensure that the corridors are clear in the event of an emergency evacuation and do not cause a safety concern. The Buzzaround CarryOn Scooter is the perfect option for cruising for several reasons. It’s lightweight and portable for an easy option to “carry on” to the cruise ship. It can also easily be stored in your stateroom in one of two ways. First, it is sized to easily fit into underbed storage in MOST staterooms. A typical range for underbed storage height on a cruise ship is between 8 to 12 inches. The Buzzaround was designed for 12 inch underbed storage. If you do not want to put the scooter under your bed (or it will not fit), it can also be folded and stored vertically with its convenient kickstand to keep it in place. These options allow you to safely and easily store your scooter in your stateroom without issue. Don’t let mobility issues keep you from the vacation of your dreams. The Golden Technologies Buzzaround CarryOn Scooter was designed with travel in mind. Its lightweight and portable design make it the perfect option for your next cruise. Stop by our retail showroom and let one of our staff show you all the features that makes this the ultimate “cruise approved” scooter!
At Carolina Homecare, we have financing available through our partnership with CareCredit, the healthcare credit card. CareCredit can help you get the medical equipment and supplies you need without delay. CareCredit offers financing options on balances of $200 or more. You can see if you qualify for the card right in our retail showroom with a quick and easy application process that does not impact your credit score. If you are approved, you can immediately begin using your CareCredit card. You will be able to use your card at every visit to our showroom- no need to reapply once you’ve been approved. You can also use your CareCredit card at any of their in-network providers which includes durable medical equipment providers but also includes dental, hearing, and more! CareCredit is also accepted at Walgreens, CVS, and Sam’s Club. Whether it’s an emergency or just a difficult time financially, CareCredit gives you a simple and flexible way to make sure you get what you or your loved one needs and pay the balance off over time. Stop by our retail showroom or call for more information on CareCredit today! 1136 Grove Road Greenville SC 29605 864-271-8258
It's time for our next entry in our Meet the Team series! This month we are introducing you to Mira Eubanks. Mira has been with Carolina Homecare since October of 1998. She will be celebrating 26 years of employment with us this Fall! We are so thankful for Mira's dedication to her job and our customers. She's always ready to help with a great attitude and a caring word. 1. How long have you worked at Carolina Homecare and what is your current role? I came to Carolina Homecare Medical Equipment in 1998. I had a nursing and accounting background so this change provided the opportunity for me to utilize my skills and knowledge in a new role of healthcare. I was somewhat familiar with the durable medical equipment industry and I already knew many employees here at CHC. I felt so at home when I came for my interview that I knew I wanted this to be my work home. I was very impressed with the ethics and compassion that I saw from everyone. It seemed we all had the same level of commitment to service our community. I have made many friends during my years here. I have learned much about this industry and experienced a lot of change. Now along with billing and insurance, I work as a Customer Service Sales Representative in our Retail Showroom. Each day brings new challenges and always something new to learn. 2. What is your favorite part of your job at CHC? Most people know I love talking to people so it is no surprise that my favorite part of my job is getting to know my customers and hearing their stories. I enjoy feeling confident that I can be a good resource for them in many ways. Listening is also an important part of what I do so that I can serve with compassion and help meet their needs. I love when customers come back to visit. It is a satisfying experience to hear how they are doing and how our equipment helps them in their daily activities. It is also very satisfying to know that we can be here to help Opens Arms Hospice patients and their families. I may not meet them personally, but I am proud to be a part of their care team during what can be a very stressful and difficult time. 3. What is your favorite way to spend your free time? One of my most favorite ways to spend my free time is cruising and going to Walt Disney World. My husband and I alternate each year with a cruise and visit to Disney World about 3 times the next year. We also love and enjoy the Disney resorts at Hilton Head and Vero Beach. My sisters and I shoot for 2-3 trips short trips each year. We love going to gospel quartet conventions. Family and friends are very important to me so I strive to be a resource for them and spend as much time as I can with them. We also enjoy watching classic movies and westerns and hanging out together when we can. 4. If you could live anywhere else in the world, where would it be? Where would I like to live in the world- I’m not a world traveler so I prefer to stay close to familiar surroundings. My husband and I would love to move to Florida when we finally retire. Our plan is to do that someday and perhaps work part time at Disney. I love sunshine and warm weather so Florida is for me!
It’s the age-old question everyone is asking these days regardless of age, gender, or social class. In our current economy, we want it cheap. We want it fast. We want it purchased without having to leave our sofa, much less our house. In a world where we can buy almost ANYTHING online and receive it in a few days, why wouldn’t we? Here’s a few reasons why we at Carolina Homecare believe you should not be purchasing your durable medical equipment online or even from “local” big box stores. Here’s why you should shop small and local for your medical equipment: - Expertise : Carolina Homecare has been in business since 1984. We are celebrating 40 years of service to the Upstate this summer. We pride ourselves on being experts in our field and being able to help our customers find the best medical products for them or their loved ones. We can’t promise this will be the case with a company like Amazon, Walmart, or other online retailers who carry so many different product categories that it’s hard to consider themselves “experts” on all of them. Our staff has a combined century of experience in this industry. We think that makes us as close to an expert as you can get. 😊 - Customer Service : Another aspect of our business that we pride ourselves on is our level of customer service. We have a retail showroom where you can walk in and touch, feel, and test drive many of our products. The showroom is always staffed by one of our experts who has years of experience in our industry. We can give you hands-on assistance in selecting the best product as well as troubleshooting any issues that could arise in the future. With us, you can discuss any issues in person (if necessary) and not have to rely on a chat function or phone call to address a problem. - Shipping : Online retailers frequently entice customers with promises of free shipping. We strongly encourage you to read the fine print and shipping policies closely on these sites. Often the free shipping does not include large items like lift chairs or power wheelchairs. A lot of these retailers also have different pricing tiers for shipping and getting “white glove delivery” of a lift chair (in-home delivery plus setup/product testing) can be upwards of $250. Our “white glove delivery” is only $75 for customers. - Returns : Please also know that not every big box store or online option will give you reasonable return policies. We’ve gotten feedback from many customers who have been “burned” by purchasing medical equipment on the internet and ended up with equipment that cannot be returned if it doesn’t work properly or offer the solution the customer originally hoped for. While this isn’t the case with every online retailer or large retail store, we can promise you that we offer a fair and consistent return policy for every customer and explain that during the initial quoting process. Believe us when we tell you we understand all the conveniences that online retailers and big box stores offer. We just strongly recommend (and would appreciate) that you exclude your durable medical equipment from that list of items. Let the hometown DME experts help you in this department and enjoy the added bonus of continuing to help your local economy grow and thrive!
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