Not medical advice. This guide is general purchasing information only.
Short answer: A home care agency's starter list is built around what each caregiver carries into the field on every visit — gloves, wipes, gentle cleansers, underpads, hand sanitizer and a small waste-bag liner stock — not shelf inventory. Per caregiver, plan a consumables basket sized to visit volume and acuity, then add agency-level items (surface disinfectants, paper products, first-aid restocks) separately. Build the list category by category, buy case quantities where usage is steady, and verify per-caregiver consumption against your own first-quarter data before scaling the standing order.
Why consumables-first beats a warehouse list
Home care supplies travel. Unlike a clinic, where inventory sits on a shelf between uses, a home care agency's baseline consumption is whatever caregivers take door to door: every bath assistance needs gloves and a cleanser, every toileting assistance needs wipes and often an underpad, every visit ends with hand hygiene. That is why the starter list below is organized per-caregiver, with agency-level items kept separate and small until visit volume is known.
The starter list, by category
| Category | Why it is carried | What we stock | Pack notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Exam gloves | Bath, toileting and wound-adjacent assistance; required per care plan | Vinyl and nitrile exam gloves in the exam gloves collection | Boxes of 100 |
| Personal & task wipes | Routine perineal and hand hygiene between visits | Wipes in the incontinence skin care and housekeeping collections | Soft packs fit a caregiver caddy |
| Gentle skin cleansers | No-rinse and bath assistance | 1000 mL skin cleansers in the skin care line | Case of 6 per listing |
| Underpads | Protect the client's bed and chair during care | Moderate 23 x 36 in and ultra-heavy 30 x 30 / 36 x 36 in underpads | Bags of 25 for field kits; cases of 100 for steady usage |
| Hand sanitizer | End-of-visit hygiene where sinks are inconvenient | Purell 800 mL and 4 oz sizes | 800 mL case of 12; 4 oz sizes: see listing |
| Can liners / waste bags | Pack-out of soiled materials; bathroom waste | Trash can liners in the waste bags & liners collection | Roll and case configurations vary |
| Incontinence products (client-specific) | Briefs and pads when the care plan calls for them | Pull-on briefs including Prevail® Per-Fit 360°™ Maximum Plus (L/XL) and Bariatric Ultimate Size B | Usually billed or supplied separately from the agency basket — see FAQ |
| Surface disinfectants (agency-level) | Equipment and high-touch surfaces between clients | VersaSure® wipes (150-count canister), CaviWipes, SaniZide Plus® and bleach germicidal cleaner | Kept in shared cars or the office, not per-visit caddies |
How to build the order: a sequence
- Start from the visit profile, not the catalog. Count visits per week by type (bath, toileting, wound-adjacent). Each type drives a different glove/wipe/cleanser consumption. If your mix is mostly bath assists, gloves and cleansers dominate; if it is mostly check-ins, the basket shrinks to sanitizer and wipes.
- Set a per-caregiver kit. One caddy: gloves, wipes, cleanser, sanitizer and a small underpad supply. Everything else stays at agency level.
- Buy the steady items by the case. Gloves, underpads and cleansers have predictable burn rates; case pricing is where a small agency saves. Items like lead times and mixed-case orders are quoted per order — get them in writing on the first quote.
- Do not stockpile client-specific consumables. Incontinence briefs and pads belong to the household's supply plan, not the agency's caddy. Original Medicare does not cover incontinence supplies (medicare.gov); in Ohio, Medicaid covers them for eligible members with a physician certificate on file (Ohio Administrative Code 5160-10-21). Know which bucket each client's supplies fall into before the caregiver shops.
- Re-measure after 90 days. Run the per-caregiver basket math against actuals, then set the standing order. Clinical care decisions — including skin problems reported during visits — go to the clinician on the care plan, not to the supply closet; tell your clinician.
What we stock
- Facility care supplies — the case-quantity backbone of this list
- For businesses — standing orders, multi-case purchasing and agency invoicing setup
- Exam gloves — vinyl and nitrile exam gloves by the box and case
- Incontinence skin care — cleansers and wipes for routine hygiene purchasing (not treatment products)
- Underpads & liners — including McKesson Moderate Absorbency Underpad, 23 x 36 Inch
- Cleaners & disinfectants — surface disinfectant wipes and cleaners for equipment
- Waste bags & liners — can liners for pack-out
- Incontinence collection and Adult briefs & underwear — briefs and pads when the household's supply plan calls for them, including Prevail® Per-Fit 360°™ Maximum Plus Incontinence Brief, Large (also stocked in Extra Large)
Frequently asked questions
Does Medicare pay for these supplies for home-bound clients? Original Medicare does not cover incontinence supplies such as briefs and pads (medicare.gov); in Ohio, Medicaid covers them with a physician certificate of medical need (Ohio Administrative Code 5160-10-21). The caregiver-carried consumables on this list are an agency operating cost either way.
How much should I budget per caregiver? It depends on visit volume and acuity. Start with a basket sized to your visits, measure real consumption for a quarter, then adjust. Client-specific incontinence products are separate.
Do caregivers carry disinfectant wipes too? Many agencies keep surface disinfectant wipes (VersaSure® and CaviWipes canisters) in shared vehicles rather than every caddy; check product-label contact times and your own policy before deciding what travels per visit.
What about gloves — vinyl or nitrile? That is a policy decision, not a clinical one: we stock both vinyl and nitrile exam gloves (boxes of 100). Note that a final FDA rule from December 2016 banned powdered surgeon's gloves and powdered patient examination gloves, latex and non-latex alike (fda.gov, 2016) — powder-free is what you will be buying.
Can one order cover the whole starter list? Yes — the facility-care and housekeeping collections plus the for-businesses page are built for exactly this: one standing order across gloves, wipes, cleansers, underpads, sanitizer and liners.
Sources
- Medicare non-coverage of incontinence supplies: medicare.gov
- Ohio Medicaid coverage with physician certificate: Ohio Administrative Code 5160-10-21
- Ban on powdered patient examination gloves: FDA final rule (fda.gov, 2016)
Not medical advice. This guide is general purchasing information only. It is not medical advice, diagnosis or treatment, and it does not replace the advice of your doctor, nurse or other qualified clinician or the manufacturer's instructions for use. Always follow their guidance for your situation.
