CellTrak Blog

 - Mark Battaglia, CellTrak CEO

The leader of a mid-sized home care agency realized that, in order to compete effectively, she had to find ways to run the business more efficiently. As she dug into how the agency operates, she found that some data had to be keyed into multiple systems, data from some systems needed to be manually keyed into other systems, and that her management team couldn’t combine data in the ways they needed to do analyses to optimize the business.

At first, the leader framed the problem in technical terms – what technology did the agency need to better use its data? But, after talking with the CIO, she realized the technology to make use of the data wasn’t the issue – access to the data was. “It’s our data,” she said. “Why can’t we just get it and use it?”

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?

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.

As hospice agency management teams face the daunting challenges of falling Medicare and Medicaid reimbursements, rising labor costs, and an uncertain regulatory environment, it’s important to remember who’s at the center of it all: the patient. The need for high quality, empathetic, compassionate end-of-life care is stronger today than ever.

Organizations that provide in-home health care are constantly challenged to improve the accuracy of services delivered. When care delivery doesn't match the care plan prescribed, the impacts can be serious and may include: