Dive into our agency guide and discover the power of service diversification for lasting stability and growth. Leverage Home Care Software to expand your offerings strategically.
This blog will discuss how home health care agencies can expand their service offerings and diversify revenue sources.
Overview
Demand for home health care is projected to grow as the proportion of the population over 65 gets larger. In 2023, the home care industry was valued at $96.08 billion USD. By 2030, the home care industry is projected to grow to $156.28 billion due to changes in geriatric population, an increase in chronic conditions, and the overall affordability of home care as opposed to in-patient care.
While this outlook bodes well for home health care agencies, there are still significant obstacles to individual agency success. Cuts to reimbursements in the coming years create a financial burden on patients and providers. Home care employee turnover rates rose in 2023 to 77%. Concurrent inflation and wage increases continue to adversely affect agency bottom line.
How, then, with all the challenges facing the home care industry, do home health care agencies continue to grow?
Home Health Care Agencies should adopt diversification strategies to mitigate the impact of reimbursement cuts by diversifying the payer mix and services offered. Diversification of services, such as Certified Home Health, Non-Medical Personal Care, Private Duty Nursing, Therapy at Home, Pediatric Care, Mental Health, etc., will help home care agencies hedge against revenue and reimbursement risks in home care services. Diversification of services will also help agencies maintain continuity of patient care and improve patient satisfaction.
In addition to expansion of services, home care agencies can also explore diversification of payers to mitigate the regulatory and reimbursement risks.
Diversification of Payers and Services
Home health care agencies hoping to grow in the next decade can focus on expanding their service offerings and diversifying their revenue sources. Agencies need only look to the skill sets they already possess to expand service offerings.
The following are home care service lines agencies can explore, and why they might be successful additions to any home health care agency:
Home and Community Based Services (HCBS)
Agencies can expand their services to include HCBS for Medicaid and Medicaid Waiver programs. Many more policy discussions are occurring about increasing the funding for HCBS services instead of funding for HCBS services while funding for Medicare Certified Services is under constant pressure from Medicare Advantage plans. These services can be provided using the skill-sets agencies already possess, with the potential to improve the utilization and productivity of current staff.
Private Duty Nursing Services
Another potential service line agencies should consider expanding into are Private Duty Nursing (PDN) Services for medically fragile pediatric and adult patients. These services are funded by Medicaid, Medicaid Waiver, or Private Insurance companies. Home Health Care Agencies could be missing out if they do not already provide PDN Services, as skilled nursing care already holds the majority of market presence in the home care segment and is poised to grow even more. These agencies already have the skills baked in to provide such services.
Outpatient Therapy at Home (Part B Therapy)
Agencies can also start providing Outpatient Therapy (Medicare Part B) Services at patients' homes. Therapists from the agency are already providing these services at patients' homes. Providing outpatient therapy services can be the natural extension of continuing aid to a patient after the patient is discharged from home health services. More healthcare conglomerates are looking for partnerships to provide Medicare Part B Services. Home health care agencies would be wise to add this service line to their offerings in anticipation of such industry transformations.
Hospital at Home and Skilled Nursing Facility (SNF) at Home
Private Duty Nursing and Outpatient Therapy at Home will enable home health agencies also to provide Hospital-at-Home or SNF-at-Home services. Home Health Care Agencies can form partnerships with local hospitals and Accountable Care Organizations to offer these services.
Diversification of Payers
Diversification of services will automatically expand the payer mix. HCBS services will add Medicaid, Medicaid Waiver, LTC Insurance, and private pay. PDN will add Medicaid, Medicaid Waiver, Private Insurances. Outpatient Therapy at Home will Medicare Part B, Private Insurances, and private pay. Diversifying the payer mix will spread the effects reimbursement cuts across multiple payers, reducing the overall impact of these regulatory changes.
Expanding services and diversifying payers will require agencies to reorient their marketing and retrain their employees to meet the requirements of a fast-growing, overburdened industry. Finding the right Home Care Software can help home health care agencies diversify services and payers more effectively.
The Right Software for Multiple Lines of Service and Diverse Payers
Technology will play a critical role in helping home health care agencies expand their service offerings and diversify revenue sources. A Home Care Software platform that can support all services under ONE patient record will significantly aid these agencies in their efforts of diversification and growth.
The following are some of the critical features the agencies should look for in Home Care Software:
ONE Patient
The software should allow home health care agencies to maintain ONE Patient record for all services offered. ONE Patient for all services will provide a consolidated clinical and financial view for the patient, leading to improved quality of care, patient satisfaction, and employee satisfaction.
ONE Employee
The software should allow the agencies to maintain ONE Employee record for all services offered. ONE Employee for all services will allow management to schedule across all services. This will significantly reduce schedule conflicts and overtime expenses, improving employee satisfaction and the agency's bottom line.
Manage and Bill Payers
The ability to manage and bill disparate payers for all services will be necessary for agencies looking to diversify their payer mix. The software should be able to bill Medicare, Medicaid, Private Insurance, and Private Pay, meeting all claim submission requirements for all payers and states.
ONE Clinical View
Keeping all clinical records under one patient record will provide a consolidated clinical view for clinicians and caregivers. Creating a cohesive care continuum will improve the quality of care, patient satisfaction, and employee satisfaction.
Electronic Visit Verification (EVV)
EVV is becoming mandatory for all states and all home health care services. Home Care Software should be able to meet EVV requirements for all states and aggregators. EVV functions should be integrated in the Home Care Software to make EVV part of the caregiver’s or clinician’s everyday workflow, and to streamline sending data from different services to the state aggregator.
Consolidated Reports
Providing consolidated reports and dashboards will help agencies manage all services effectively. Using ONE Software with ONE Patient and ONE Employee record will require less employee training and improve productivity and bottom line.
Grow Efficiently in 2024
Reimbursement cuts, high employee turnover rates, inflation, and increasing demand for home care services will continue to buffet even the most stable agencies in the coming decade. Home health care agencies that diversify services and payers will build a wider foundation to weather unpredictability. Leveraging the right technology and Home Care Software to manage all services can help those agencies grow more efficiently.
To learn more about what 2024 holds for the home health care industry, look here:
About CareVoyant
CareVoyant is a leading provider of cloud-based integrated enterprise-scale home health care software that can support all home-based services under ONE Software, ONE Patient, and ONE Employee, making it a Single System of Record. We support all home based services, including Home Care, Private Duty Nursing, Private Duty Non-Medical, Home and Community Based Services (HCBS), Home Health, Pediatric Home Care, and Outpatient Therapy at Home.
CareVoyant functions – Intake, Authorization Management, Scheduling, Clinical with Mobile options, eMAR/eTAR, Electronic Visit Verification (EVV), Billing/AR, Secure Messaging, Notification, Reporting, and Dashboards – streamline workflow, meet regulatory requirements, improve quality of care, optimize reimbursement, improve operational efficiency and agency bottom line.
For more information, please visit CareVoyant.com or call us at 1-888-463-6797.
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