Private duty home care is definitely here to stay. Many people need care, often around-the-clock, and they prefer to stay in their homes. Some can afford it while others have invested into or qualified for other resources that make such care affordable. Providers need to be on top of their games in multiple categories in order to ensure superior service. What are they:
Income Diversification: Many companies contract with agents of Medicaid waivers to provide care in the homes of Medicaid recipients. In most cases the maximum hourly bid ranges from $18.00 to $21.00 per hour. A quality aide is going to cost at least $13.00 per hour. Once you add in those ancillary costs including your liability and workers comp coverage along with staff supervision, the agency can plan on keeping about $4.75 per hour. Wealth building as a home care entrepreneur becomes much more of a stretch considering the number of hours needed for a large revenue stream.
Additionally there tends to be limits on how many hours a waiver agency will purchase for one individual case. This makes income diversity essential. This will mean you need to:
- Design special services packages that can accommodate disabled veterans in their homes with an a la carte type service offering. Make it so that if additional services are warranted the veteran and/or their families have the option to pay privately but there are ways to craft specific packages based upon available funds. You will need to define your services with specificity.
- Become literate in how long-term care insurance policies work. In many cases the patient will pay you and they will seek the reimbursement from the insurer and in other cases you will bill directly. You need to understand this dynamic including how to review the policy to ensure you are not billing more than what you can expect to be paid.
- Actively market for 24-hour cases where you are paid from the client’s own assets monthly. These are great opportunities for you to commence services with minimal complexity and demonstrate your ability to execute in a responsible, reliable and accountable manner.
Polish that Staff: Do not approach this in a “willy-nilly” fashion. Staff development needs to be consistent, focused and relevant. Humans forget and often fall back into habits that may or may not be productive or appropriate for the workplace. The only way to reinforce good policy and to ensure you are doing your part to create and maintain the best staffing product in your marketplace is to regularly in-service your people on key topics including….
For In-Home Care Staff:
- Maintaining and Restoring Your Client’s Dignity
You want your client and their families smiling - Special Protocol Associated with Work in Someone’s Else Space
- Rendering Care to Someone Convinced They Do Not Need it
- Rendering Personal Care Safely and With Dignity – (Protect against accident; make client feel esteemed. A How To.)
- Avoiding the Appearance of Sexual Impropriety When Rendering Care (Eliminate likelihood of false accusation)
For Sales Personnel:
- Understanding How to Sell Relief
- Bringing Comfort with Sincerity to Stressed Family Caregivers
- Financial Boundaries You Cannot Cross When Reducing Service Costs
For Field Supervision:
- The Little Things You Might Not See During an Inspection
- Creating an Environment Where Client Can Speak Freely
- What You Accomplish with Sincere Commendation
- Scheduling Home Inspections to Accomplish the Most
For Owners – Service Coordinators:
- What to accomplish During a Care Conference with Client and Responsible Party
Learn how to make care conferences more effective and how they are an outstanding marketing tool - How to Prepare in Advance for the Care Conference to Maximize Positive Impact
- Tips on Keeping Care Conference Dialogue to an Established Agenda
- Using Technology to Keep Client Families in the Loop
- Using Technology to Heighten Staff Supervision
Just think of the kind of operation you end up with when a commitment to ongoing people development such as this exists. Whether you come to the blog’s writers or some other source, be sure and obtain the best training tools in the marketplace. Never ignore the value of preparing and managing the best people you can offer your client base.
When these two, (2) ingredients come together you end up the brightest star among the slackers who make no such commitment and whose reputation proves or will soon prove it.
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