Starting a Home Health Care Agency?
Learn how to start a home health care agency billing Medicaid & Medicare.
Start a Home Health Care Agency
With baby boomers getting older by the day, coupled with an increasing global population, it’s safe to say the need for home health care agencies is greater now than ever before.
If youre asking yourself, “how do I start a home health care agency?”, you have come to the right place. We are home health care consultants who help people just like you start their very own home health care agencies. If you would like to own your own home health care business and do not like the idea of a home care franchise owning a large part of your business, you might be confused on where to go from here.
Before you take the first steps needed to start a home health care business, lets make sure you actually want to start a home health care business, and not a similar business such as a non-medical home care business, or something else
What is a Home Health Care Agency?
A home health care agency offers skilled nursing services, therapy services (OT,PT,ST), and Home Health Aide Services per doctors order.
If this is not what you would like to do, please contact Certified Homecare Consulting and we will walk you through the appropriate home health care licensure options in your state and explore other home care license options that are available to you.
Starting a Home Care Agency Can Be As Easy As Calling Certified Homecare Consulting
But, If You are Starting a Home Care Business On Your Own, Follow These Steps:
STEP 1. Create a Business Plan for Your Home Health Care Agency
This should be the first step for any home health care agency, or any business for that matter. This will be a well thought out, step by step guide for your new home health care agency.
Summary of your agency – Who, what, why.
Agency description – Mission & Vision
Agency Services – What services will your home health care agency provide and to who?
Marketing your Agency – Now that you know what services your home health care agency will offer, who will you be offering them to?
A-Z – A good business plan for your home health care agency is going to include every small detail from startup, to marketing, to operations, and every variable inbetween. The better prepared you are the better prepared you will be for success.
STEP 2. Lots of Paperwork (home care agency license, policies, accreditation, etc.)
You cannot just bill Medicare and Medicaid on day one. Heck, in some states you can’t bill Medicaid or Medicare at all. Can you believe that? *Call us for a list of those states – we are happy to help. After you get your incorporation, NPI, etc., it’s time to get your state home health care agency license. In most states, where you can bill Medicaid and Medicare, your home health care agency will most likely need to be licensed for home health care agency services in your state. In order to achieve home health care agency licensure, you will have to have policies and procedures that comply with all local, state, and federal guidelines for operating a home health care agency.
Once you have your home health care agency policies and procedures and achieve home health care licensure, you can proceed with home health care agency private duty or Medicare accreditation.
STEP 3. Private Duty or Medicare Home Health Care Agency Accreditation
If you want to bill Medicare, you will need to proceed with Medicare Certification with CHAP, ACHC, TJC, or the State. In most cases, these state no longer offers Medicare Certification and therefore, you must rely on one of the three main accrediting bodies for this Medicare Accreditation. Certified Homecare Consulting will walk you and your teamr home health care agency through the entire process of Medicare Accreditation as well as home health care agency licensure. Certified also customizes and prepares your home health care agencys policies and procedures, and all other forms and documents.
STEP 4. Staffing Requierments to Start a Home Health Care Agency
In most states, you will need two registered nurses. Once registered nurse will act as your home health care agency administrator. The other registered nurse will act as your director of clinical services, formerly referred to as a director of nursing. These are typically your only required staff, although, you will need a good marketer for your home health care agency.
STEP 5. How Do I Get Patients For My Home Health Care Agency?
We offer the best home health care agency marketing in the industry. You will learn how to market directly to patients through grassroot initiatives, but even better, you will learn how to deveop power partners for your home health care agency. Inpatient/outpatient facilities, hospital discharge planners, other directors and adminisrators, programs and sytems, internet, etc, etc, etc.
There are so many ways to get patients for your home health care agency. We have more than a couple of home health care agencies of our own, and no two are alike. Ask us about our home health care agencies. We are happy to meet you at one of our agencies, at your office, or our office anytime.
STEP 6. Call Certified Homecare Consulting to Start Your Home Health Care Agency
There is so much to know and to do if you really want to start a home health care agency. Let our home health care consultants answer all of your questions and help you start your home health care agency. You have nothing to lose and everything to gain. Call us today to start your home health care agency the right way!!
