Updated: Nov 18, 2022
From our consulting experience, home care agencies have been leaving money on the table, not realizing how much they are losing in revenue and adding costs to their overhead. We have identified a few common ways that Home Care Agencies leave money on the table.
Not Running Management Reports - Knowing what reports to keep track of and having your team run daily and weekly will help you keep track of progress. These reports are also great for continuous quality improvement programs (CQI) and can help DOH Auditors identify if you have been holding up the standards that they have put forth. Don't skim on writing the meeting notes as agencies must comply with the regulation.
Further, refraining from writing notes to check off that it was done without adequately auditing sample files and analyzing the results leaves so much money on the table and room for deficiencies and lawsuits. CQI meetings are meant to improve your agency's program and identify strengths and weaknesses, help you analyze costs and save you money.
So why don't agencies take CQI seriously? For one, CQI's are not reviewed until you get a state audit, so agencies tend to think they don't matter. CQI's help identifies issues and allows you to self-correct them. Don't wait to be audited to improve your agency. You may find it helpful to dig a little deeper and audit each department like coordination, intake, and billing instead of just sticking to the routine topics included in every CQI, such as complaints, incidents, patient charts, and employee charts.
Not nourishing the relationship between your professional contacts and network
We have seen agencies that have not connected with their contracts/vendors in months, cultivate their relationship since they received the contract, or spend time meeting the needs of the community they serve. This can harm your relationship with vendors. Some agencies have had the same rates for years despite wage parity and compliance changes.
Growth starts with trust, networking, building, and producing results. In this day and age, some agencies still have no networking personnel, team, or social presence to nourish relationships, and thus their business diminishes. Spending resources on marketing for your specific agency is essential. To profit in any business, you must put back in a portion of your profit to keep your business running, a principle some often forget.
Not reviewing contracts like commercial lease space, office equipment, third-party staffing contracts, salaries, etc.
There are countless dollars lost in commercial space. Do you need all of the space you have? Or have you re-negotiated your commercial contracts? Sometimes business owners shy away from legal services due to high hourly rates, but it is essential to understand that when you have poorly written agreements or contracts that you have failed to review, it can be more costly in the end and money lost.
Not going with the trend (Niche based services) and listening/supporting your employees
Some agencies lose money because they do not track and analyze their intakes. An agency that enjoys growth and is structured analytically may appreciate tracking data like cases refused and not taken. Maybe you will need to hire a new specialty team, invest in further training, add another line of business/product or open a new site. It may be worth it if you do the research. Don't forget about the heart of your business, the caregivers. We must ensure you give them the tools they need, encourage continuous learning, and ensure wage parity compliance. But even more so, giving them autonomy of selecting their benefits, investing in their retirement and future with a leading third-party administrator,
Some agencies lose money because they do not track and analyze their patient intake trends. An agency that enjoys growth and is structured analytically may appreciate tracking data like cases refused and not taken. Maybe you will need to hire a new specialty team, invest in further training, add another line of business/product or open a new site. It may be worth it if you do the research. Don't forget about the heart of your business, the caregivers. We must ensure we give them the tools they need, encourage continuous learning, and ensure wage parity compliance. But even more so, giving them autonomy of selecting their benefits, investing in their retirement and future with a leading third-party administrator.
As we round up the 4th quarter, we hope that you create and visualize goals for the new year, so you don't leave money on the table but recirculate to grow and scale your home care business. It's never too late to create or tweak your business plan or add market research to see if your next move will be a profitable one. So let us help you and grow with you. To learn more about our services click the link to schedule a consultation.
You may also book a mock survey to decrease your chances at deficiencies, citations, and penalties. Call us so we can assess your risks. We will be happy to help!