Tips To Start A Home Health Care Agency
The term “home health care” means that medical professionals or caregivers go into patient’s homes and provide some help or care.
Home care agency services includes nursing services, wound care, monitoring of one’s health, such as measuring blood pressure and maintaining a patients mental state. This type of healthcare is needed when someone gets out of the hospital or mostly for senior citizens.
Home care provided by caregivers is based around the need for necessary daily life assistance. For example, home care aides will help to prepare meals, clean the house, help change a dress of an individual or drive them to a doctor’s clinic or somewhere else.
What is involved in a successful home care startup? Six critical areas of concern to start a home care Agency are the following:
1. Vision & Planning
The initial step to start home health care Agency is formulating a clear idea of meeting the needs of people. A detailed community assessment gives you the way, and your background, vision will play into the decision.
There are various types of home health agencies. Some focus only on daily non-medical living assistance for seniors and disabled persons, whereas others provide nurses and therapists to take care of the medical needs of the patient. To make your mission a reality, you need to think and put into writing about your detailed Agency plan and find effective ways of marketing your vision to the community.
2. Licensing Issues
Step two is getting your homecare agency startup off the ground, i.e., obtaining all necessary licenses. A right consulting firm will guide you through this complicated legal process and uses experienced senior consultants to expedite the process of licensure.
When you start a home care Agency, you will need to be incorporated with a Tax ID. You will also need to obtain an NPI,i.e., National Provider Identification number with medicare. There are differences in license issues from state to state. Certified Homecare Consulting can help you properly prepare for successful practice.
Is the agency licensed?
Anyone can advertise they are an experienced caregiving agency, but you need to make sure that agency is licensed. The protocols required by states to maintain licensure is a good sign that the agency is legitimate. Licensing also correlates with better health standards and safety requirements. Once an agency is licensed, it remains on the state bureau’s radar and can be inspected by state officials at any time.
3. Medicare Accreditation
As a large portion of your compensation will come through medicare, you must go through the certification process. It involves a three-day medical survey in which your policies, record keeping, procedures, and clinical practice will be evaluated. Certified Homecare Consulting prepares you to pass the first time.
Often, agencies will choose accreditation from ACHC instead of the medicare certification for three years. Accrediting bodies hold firms to all medicare conditions of participation along with standards of excellence above and beyond Medicaid.
4. Software Selection
Today’s healthcare industry is using advanced medical equipment and online record-keeping. An existing agency can update software systems as it will be helpful. A homecare startup agency can select the most effective and efficient software program to meet their requirements. Senior-level consultants help to make sure that agencies do not make the mistake of choosing the wrong software. Contact Certified Homecare Consulting for more help.
5. Preperation of Policy and Procedure Manuals
To run your agency correctly from day one, you will need to develop customized administrative policy and procedure manuals, employee handbooks, forms, manuals, and other critical organizational tools. Optimizing your manuals will save you time and money.
6. Staffing your Home Health Care agency
The next step is to develop effective recruitment and retention strategies. Hiring the well-trained and reputable staff members who are dedicated to providing top-quality care is vital to fulfilling your mission. If you fail to fill your ranks with conscientious staff members, you could retain staff but fail to maintain clients. On the other hand, hiring good managers may be a function of your overall policies and standards.
You can hire some staff directly full-time, some part-time, and contract out other specialists as needed. But you must do a thorough background check on anyone who will be working under your agency’s name, to protect patients, to avoid a possible lawsuit, and to protect your agency’s reputation.
Challenges faced in running a home health care agency:
As one of the Agency owner, you are going to be one of the crucial service provider. There are some unique challenges in providing home health care that should be considered before you start a home care Agency.
Long-distance travel
The convenience of home health care is not the caregiver but for the patient. Most home health care providers see six to eight patients in a day. If the distance is large, that means they have to travel a lot, which can cause fatigue. If you don’t like traveling and find it stressful, this may be a thing to consider before you start a home care Agency.
Technological upkeep and maintenance
The reason home health care Agency is growing in the last few decades is due to technological advances that have allowed high-tech equipment to be used even at the home of the patient. Previously, these equipment were only available in a hospital or clinic.
Therefore, modern home health care relies on good quality equipment. Agency owners will have to keep up with the latest technology and have to manage this equipment.
Working in isolation
A key benefit of providing health care in a hospital or clinic is that you have co-workers with whom you can consult or ask for assistance. Mostly, home health care providers work on their own, without colleagues and support network around. This kind of work environment is something that you would need to be comfortable with doing the job correctly.
If you are aware of the industry, analyzed the market opportunity, considered the unique challenges, and are excited to move forward, these steps can help you navigate this tricky process.
