About five years ago, Jennifer and Travis Prescott blended their families and started a company.
With Jennifer’s 26 years of experience in nursing and Travis’ Master of Business Administration, the couple launched Blue Water Homecare in 2017 and opened their office in 2020. Now with a workforce of about 130 employees, Jennifer said the Leander-based business has established itself in Williamson County. From her experience working with hospice care patients, Jennifer said she saw an opportunity for home care.
“There was a huge need in the industry to have nonmedical home care,” she said. “There were a lot of agencies out there, but sometimes they didn’t have that skilled approach to nonskilled care.”
Blue Water serves as a clinical support team for caregivers. In-home care duties may include assistance with meal preparation, cooking, reminders to take medications and light housekeeping. In matching clients with caregivers, Blue Water also considers the family’s preferences as well as the expertise needed for specific types of care.
“We have a clinical ladder for our caregivers that is pretty unheard of in this industry,” Jennifer said. “We have a very succinct program where our caregivers can move from Level 1-5, with access to extra education, training [and] raises, and they can move into lots of different opportunities.”
As she is taking care of her mother-in-law with dementia and her four kids, and actively building a business, Jennifer said one thing has kept her going.
“It’s the clients and their families,” she said. “I got a letter from the son of one of our very first patients congratulating us on our hospice and telling us that he’s so grateful for the care that we provided for his mom four years ago.”
The business recently added hospice to its service offerings. The major difference between home care and hospice is that the former is unskilled, while the latter is skilled, or includes registered nurses, Jennifer said. Services are offered to clients in their homes as most clients want to age in place, but Blue Water has one inpatient unit in South Austin.
While many of their clients are elderly, Blue Water Homecare & Hospice also caters to people who have had heart attacks, strokes, cancer or some type of tragic accident.
Most patients are able to afford the company’s service through insurance. However, the insurance cover is different for home care and hospice services.
“On the home care side, it is private pay. We work with long-term care insurance companies,” Jennifer said. “One of the things we do is help them evaluate a good care plan. We always want to give them the right care at the right time.”
For hospice service, Blue Water is part of the Medicare Hospice Benefit, and there is no cost to provide care. She said it is the best benefit Medicare has to offer, but residents have to meet certain criteria to access that coverage.
“Medicare covers nursing care, a chaplain, a social worker, volunteers, any equipment related to their primary diagnosis and even medication,” Jennifer said. “It’s literally a phone call for us. There’s no hidden hoops to fall into.”
Jennifer said being a locally owned business is an advantage.
“We live here, we work here, we go to church here,” she said. “I think we’ve been so successful because we’re committed to that excellence of care every single day.”
When is hospice the next step?
Jennifer Prescott, Blue Water Homecare & Hospice co-owner, said besides hospice care, her company also offers dementia care and a Parkinson’s program that helps meet the needs of those affected by this condition. Her company can help people determine when hospice care may be appropriate with the following signs:
- Frequent hospitalizations or emergency room visits
- Changes in functional status that has been progressive, such as bathing, dressing, eating and continence
- Changes in mental status
- Frequent falls
- Significant unexplained weight loss
- Decision to forgo aggressive treatments
660 S. Bagdad Road, Ste. 210, Leander
512-872-2955
www.bluewaterhomecare.com
Hours: open 24/7
