CellTrak Blog

With a skyrocketing 65% turnover rate for personal care aides, a double-digit nurse turnover rate and a low unemployment rate, home care agencies face massive challenges with retention and employee churn.

Agencies can’t afford to delay.  The regulatory deadline is approaching quickly, and the cost of inaction is high.

Our guidance to agencies - start now to take advantage of immediate ROI.  We recommend that agencies in open states get started, in order to design an optimal workflow and allow time for implementation and testing.  There are two parts to EVV compliance:

For many in the home health care industry, 2017 evoked that ancient Chinese curse, “May you live in interesting times.” There certainly was no shortage of issues of interest for the industry – with a multitude of new regulations going into effect (such as emergency preparedness requirements), and others ending up delayed at the eleventh hour (such as the federal overtime pay policy).

This turbulence shows no sign of slowing down, either. Below, we’ve identified the top trends we anticipate will impact the home health care industry in 2018, along with advice for home care business leaders to adjust their decision-making and plan their strategies accordingly.

When Premier Health care, a physician group based in Bloomington, Indiana, discovered in early 2016 that a laptop from their billing department had been stolen, the loss was far more than just a pricey electronic item. That laptop contained unencrypted patient records – including social security numbers and financial information for 1,769 people, and additional data that could impact more than 200,000 additional patients.

It’s hard these days to read the news without coming across yet another story of a major data breach at a major organization. The unfortunate truth is that every business today faces the risk of cyberattack – but health care businesses may be even more vulnerable.

As a caregiver shortage looms over the home care industry, Millennials are increasingly filling the gap. It’s a great solution for building out an agency’s staff, but it often presents an entirely new set of challenges: Agencies now need to figure out how to manage this generation of employees.

Without a doubt, there are many reasons for home care agencies to go paperless. Digitizing processes can yield significant operational efficiencies and sets the stage for improvements in both staff satisfaction and care quality. And eliminating the need for field staff to come into the office to drop off or pick up paperwork can dramatically reduce mileage and labor costs.

These benefits are obvious, but they don’t tell the whole story. In fact, going paperless can impact an agency in surprising ways.

The holidays are right around the corner. Although this may be the most wonderful time of the year for many people, for home care and home hospice agencies, the holiday season can mean stress, extra work, and lots of headaches. Staff may not be available for holiday shifts, patients may be lonely, and payroll time-and-a-half requirements can create a major dent to an agency’s bottom line.

What, then, can a busy agency manager do to survive the crazy busy holiday season – and maybe even spread a little good cheer along the way?

If your agency doesn’t yet have a plan for holding onto your most talented caregivers, you could be in trouble. With turnover rates exceeding 65 percent and a potentially disastrous caregiver shortage looming, employee retention is one of the biggest challenges the in-home care industry faces.

As a result, agencies are scrambling to figure out how to make their employees happier, without breaking the budget. And they’re increasingly finding success from a surprising source: Technology.

The reports following recent hurricanes in the United States were heartbreaking. In the aftermath of Hurricane Harvey, residents of a Texas nursing home that had never flooded before were trapped by rising waters. Meanwhile, eight residents perished in a Florida nursing home that lost air conditioning after Hurricane Irma, despite the home’s prior preparations for power outages.

For Medicare-certified home health agencies seeking to differentiate themselves, the Home Health Compare website managed by CMS can be a powerful tool. Potential clients, private payers, and government funders use the website to identify, compare, and partner with outstanding agencies.

However, to get the most from this tool, agencies need to understand how the website works and how they can maximize their quality ratings to achieve the coveted five stars across the board.

Let’s explore this further.