What is a home health agency?

The homes of clients, independent care facilities, or assisted living facilities are among the places where home care agencies offer their services to clients.

The aim of home care is to keep the client and/or their spouse as safe and independent as possible in their home. Seniors, people recuperating from an injury or surgery, new mothers, people with physical disabilities or those recovering from chronic health conditions are all possible clients for home care services.

What Does Home Health Agency Mean?

A private or governmental organization known as a home health agency treats patients away from the typical hospital or doctor’s office setting. The name “home” health agency comes from the fact that home health agencies frequently treat patients there. Some insurance policies, in the context of insurance, cover medical care from home health agencies.

Home Health Agency Structure

Patients who are elderly, disabled, or too ill to care for themselves can receive short- and long-term services from home health agencies thanks to the involvement of a wide range of medical specialists. Home health care can mean the difference between placing sick family members in an institution or letting them recover in their own home. These organizations are set up to foster a partnership between patients and their doctors, allowing patients and their families to have the most influence over their care.

The Frontline

The front-line service providers and members of the caregiving staff at home health care agencies are typically nurses, nurse practitioners, home health aides, and physical therapists. These highly qualified and certified individuals work closely with patients and act as a point of contact between them, their families, and the agency. Once services are contracted, they are in charge of overseeing all patient care and communicating frequently with clients and their families.

Bridge Employees

A home health agency needs a large support staff in addition to the front-line medical staff to operate effectively. The human resources division is in charge of ensuring that organizations are staffed with talented customer service professionals like secretaries and receptionists as well as certified medical technology specialists, coders, and billers. The link between management, helpers, and caregivers is human resources.

Supervision

According to Jeanine Diggs, Quality Assurance Registered Nurse for RGA Home Health Services, Denver, Colorado, the Quality Assurance RN is typically in charge of direct supervision of the caregiver staff and handles scheduling conflicts, responds to caregiver inquiries, guarantees that patient visits are completed on time, and mitigates staffing issues as they arise. The management chain of command starts with this position. The link between the Quality Assurance RN and the Director of Nursing is the Assistant Director of Nursing, who is also in charge of immediate clinical supervision.

Management

In the first tier of upper management, the director of nursing is ultimately in charge of all clinical activities at a home health agency. The nursing administrator, who typically has a business or health care administration degree, is responsible for policy and procedure. Although the nursing administrator is on the same executive level as the director of nursing, they hardly ever work directly with patients.

Senior Management

Usually, a home health agency is run by an executive administrator who is also frequently the agency owner. The executive administrator’s main duties include making sure the company functions properly, including being inspection-ready, marketing, being aware of new and/or updated laws, and reducing customer complaints. The administrator collaborates closely with the director of nursing and nursing administrator to make sure that every aspect of the agency runs smoothly and complies with all applicable local, state, and federal laws.

Why Do Home Health Agencies Matter In Healthcare?

For those who cannot comfortably leave their homes for ongoing outpatient care, high-quality home health care is essential. Acutely ill patients who have recently been released from a hospital or long-term care facility also use home health agencies. Services supplied by HHA could consist of:

• Home health aide assistance
• Social work
• Nursing
• Occupational therapy
• Physical therapy
• Speech therapy

Home health care can result in better patient health and quality of life, shorter hospital stays, lower hospital costs, and fewer unscheduled readmissions.

What Sorts Of Services Does A Home Care Agency Provide?

Home health care is the term used to describe medical care or supportive care provided to patients who don’t need hospitalization or facility care but do need extra assistance to live safely at home. Individuals’ homes are visited by medical professionals or trained caregivers to offer assistance or care.

While home care may involve receiving medical attention from qualified healthcare providers, the majority of health care is focused on helping people with daily tasks like eating, dressing, and bathing. 

Medical Vs. Non-medical Home Care Business

Medical home care is provided by medical professionals and includes wound care and general nursing services, such as monitoring blood pressure and mental state. Senior citizens and patients who have just been released from the hospital typically require this kind of care. 

Non-medical home care is provided by professional caregivers or other (licensed or unlicensed) non-medical personnel and is based around essential day-to-day assistance. Home care aides might, for instance, cook meals, clean the house, assist someone with getting dressed or changed, or drive them to and from doctor’s appointments. To stimulate seniors’ minds, they might also play cards or board games. 

Demand For Private Caregiver Services Is Growing

One of the healthcare industries in the US with the fastest growth is the private caregiver services sector. Over 73 million baby boomers, or about 25% of the U.S. population, are the primary driver of demand. population.

Baby boomers who are getting older are putting more pressure on the healthcare system to provide home care. As life expectancy rises, seniors who require long-term care prefer to remain in their homes, necessitating more private caregivers.  

However, the aging of the baby boomer generation is not the only factor contributing to the country’s aging population. A few other important factors include record-low birth rates among young women and longer lifespans, which are partly attributable to improved health care.

In a survey of US adults, about 18% said that if long-term care was required, an in-home care service provider would be most likely to provide it.

Here are five more arguments in favor of the demand for private caregiver services in the United States. will continue to grow:

• In comparison to the 2 million people who reside in nursing homes or assisted living facilities, approximately 12 million people receive some type of home health care. 
• The majority of Americans receiving home care. are over 65 years old, with approximately 97% requiring assistance with bathing and 91% requiring assistance transferring in and out of bed. 
• 90% of seniors plan to remain in their homes as they age.
• Every day, more than 10,000 baby boomers turn 65, and 61 million of them will be between the ages of 66 and 84 by 2030. 
• American home health care revenue has grown to $97 billion. 

14 Steps To Start A Successful Home Health Care Agency

Here are 14 steps you need to follow when launching your successful home healthcare agency:

Step #1. Create A Business Entity

There are several different kinds of business structures available:‌ Corporation, Limited-Liability Company (LLC), Sole Proprietorship, Partnership, Limited-Liability Company, and Sole Proprietorship and Partnership. The kind of business you start will impact your financial obligations, organizational structure, and personal responsibilities. It will also affect how much tax you pay.

Step #2. Obtain An Employer Id Number (EIN)

An employer identification number (EIN), also called a federal employer identification number (FEIN), or federal tax identification number, is a special nine-digit number given by the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) to organizations doing business in the United States for identification purposes.

Step #3. Register With The Secretary Of State

How you register your business depends on your location and organizational structure. The majority of the time, registering your business is as easy as submitting your business name to the state and local governments.

Inquire about the availability of business names on your local secretary of state’s website, and see if the domain name for your website is still available. Print letterhead, business cards, and brochures as soon as your company name and entity are approved.

Step #4. Draft A Formal Business Plan

The business plan that will serve as the cornerstone of your healthcare agency must then be created. You must incorporate the following:

• Executive summary – Give a succinct description of your company.
• Company description – List the objectives and mission of your organization.
• Services – Describe the services you will provide and your pricing strategy.
• Marketing plan – Determine how customers will find out about your company.  
• Management and organization – Give a brief description of your ownership structure.
• Operational plan – Include details about the staff and facilities, as well as the supplies you’ll need.
• Financial plan – Make a break-even point analysis, a snapshot of the balance sheet, and a cash flow forecast on the sheet.

Step #5. Open A Business Bank Account

You can open a business checking account and credit card account after registering your business. 

Step #6. Secure Funding

Lack of working capital during the start-up phase is one of the main causes of new home care businesses failing. The estimated start-up costs range from the following, depending on where your home healthcare business will be located:

• Private Pay Home Care business: $40,000 to $80,000. 
• Non-Medicare licensed home health agency: $60,000 to $100,000. 
• Agency recognized by Medicare:  $150,000 to $350,000. 

To launch your business, you’ll need to have a strong financial strategy and ample funding.

Step #7. Check State Licensing Requirements

It’s challenging to give specific, step-by-step instructions on what to do because the non-medical home care business forms and licenses you’ll need differ from state to state. 

You will typically need to complete a particular training program and earn your CPR/AED certification as a minimum. You don’t need any other unique licenses in some states. For personal care and caregiver training in some states, however, you might need to take additional courses. 

Step #8. Obtain Adequate Insurance

It’s critical to secure sufficient insurance. You will require at the very least:

• Professional liability insurance – protects you from claims of negligence, malpractice, or incompetence. (Also known as “errors and omissions” insurance.)

You might also require: Depending on the services you’re providing:

• General liability insurance – covers you against claims involving third-party bodily injury and property damage arising‌ ‌from‌ ‌your‌ ‌product‌ ‌or‌ ‌ operation.
• Cybersecurity insurance – protects you from some PII (Personal Identifiable Information) of a customer may be exposed through a breach or hack, which may result in HIPAA fines.

Step #9. Develop A Sales And Marketing Plan

Your marketing strategy should be focused on these three market segments:

• Seniors and mature adults.
• the grown children of seniors.
• other family members of elderly or disabled people.

Launch A Website

You need to be found online, which begins with building a website that is simple to read and use on any device.

Set Up A Google My Business Page

Getting listed in the Google Map pack is crucial because it appears in the majority of local searches.

Connect With Referral Sources

Choose the best referral sources in your neighborhood, such as establishing contact with long-term care facilities and social workers handling hospital discharges. 

Getting in touch with your neighborhood doctors, senior centers, and rehab outpatient facilities and asking for recommendations is a great place to start. You can also ask if it’s possible to post advertisements or flyers about your services inside their offices.

Run Google Ads

Make keyword bids to gain immediate visibility for your most critical Google searches. For instance, you would want to appear at the top of Google. Ads are one of the best ways to get noticed even when you’re just getting started because someone searching for this term is looking for the services you offer. 

TV And Radio Ads

Don’t spend money on TV and radio advertisements until your company has a solid track record because they can be a viable option but are typically quite expensive.

Get Active On Social Media

Start interacting with your target audience on social media sites where they are active by posting informative content about your products and care packages.

Collect And Publish Reviews

When making such an emotional investment as caring for a loved one, people want to see social proof that you are a trustworthy company, so simply appearing on Google is not sufficient.

Step #10. Develop A Recruitment And Retention Plan

The two strategies that are most frequently used to keep caregivers are training and recognition. To keep your current caregivers and use their expertise to train new ones, you must comprehend them.

Step #11. Set Up Operations – Scheduling, Billing, And Timekeeping – Software

Installing software for accounting, billing, payroll, scheduling, and timekeeping is necessary for back office operations.

Step #12. Draft Formal Policies And Procedures

These things need to be covered by your formal policies and procedures:

• New client admissions
• Plans of care
• Scheduling
• Employee and payroll records
• Hiring practices
• Orientation
• Training
• Client billing
• Client rights and responsibilities

Step #13. Hire Founding Staff Members

You want to hire staff members who share your values and deliver the best care possible because your home health care business offers patients individualized care services. The level of care you offer will determine how well your business is known.

Certified nursing assistants (CNAs) and home health aides (HHAs) are two healthcare specialists who frequently work in the home care setting. If you can, bond every worker you have.

Step #14. Remain Compliant With Caregiver Training

Different states have regulations that home healthcare agencies must follow. 

CareAcademy is an online training platform that is approved in all 50 states. Employers can be enrolled, and agency owners can follow their development. Caregiver trainees will complete the program with the necessary compliance and authorization to work in their state. 

The process of getting started is simple for agency owners and their staff:

1. The owners enlist caregivers.
2. From any device, caregivers can access training.
3. In order to complete training on time, caregivers review progress and set up reminders.
4. Caregivers can download training logs and completion certificates. 

Online training from CareAcademy makes sure that caregivers and agency owners have a paper trail for compliance requirements.

Conclusion

Now is the ideal time to launch your home healthcare business because there will be a continued increase in the demand for private caregiver services.

To get your business off to a quick start with qualified and compliant caregivers, look into the variety of online training offered by CareAcademy. To learn more about how CareAcademy can quickly train and certify your staff, schedule a demo today. During the demo, we’ll go over your needs and regulatory obligations.