As you are building your homecare agency, there might be a moment when you feel you are not hitting your potential. Starting a homecare agency is difficult as there are so many moving pieces and compliance concerns, plus workflow management processes that come with running a business.
There are several steps you can take to build in frameworks that can increase your business in a constant stream. This will enable you to focus on delivering expert care, developing key relationships and ensuring that your staff is working like a well-oiled machine.
Here are some options to consider.
1. Use advanced technology to optimize your processes.
They say time is money, meaning that as you spend time on a task, that time has value to it. With outdated technology, you could be wasting time generating reports manually and there is risk in making a mistake or mishandling information. These mistakes could end up costing money later, especially if they snowball into something larger. With the right kind of software, however, reports are generated automatically so you can be sure that the information is accurate and quick to receive. This will save time, giving you freedom to explore other revenue streams.
2. Eliminate paper claims.
When you submit a claim for review on paper, it can take up to 45 days for the claim to be processed. And then, if the claim is denied for whatever reason, it can take an additional 45 days for the claim to be re-reviewed. That’s a total of 90 days—three whole months!—before the claim can be paid out. By contrast, when you file your claim electronically, you can have the claim reviewed in 17 days. This will shorten the amount of time before you can redeem the claim, and thereby increase revenue long term.
3. Create a diverse list of services.
While it is key to maintain the highest quality of services for your clients and avoid spreading your agency too thin, it is equally important to find a wide range of services your team excels at in order to appeal to a broad variety of potential clients. This could include transportation, home care, errands, nursing and other companion services. Diversification benefits your team by retaining customers for longer and also attracting new clients who need different types of care. The agency can grow and evolve with its clients as their needs might change, rather than be replaced at those crucial times.
4. Optimize your cash flow by monitoring your accounts receivable.
Homecare agencies are encouraged to keep track of their accounts receivable monitoring, and to monitor it very closely. Accounts receivable, just as a reminder, is the portion of your business that keeps track of outstanding payments. By automating this process, you can optimize the cash flow and ensure that you never miss a payment that is owed. When claims are denied for any reason, the company has to figure out where the error came from and a seamless accounts receivable department can flag
any issues.
Homecare agencies can sometimes outsource accounts receivable monitoring, but there is a catch. The outsourced consultants will probably not process more than five claims and they might not go after small claims if the amount of the claim is less than what they might make in return. It is thus a strong investment to have an accounts receivable monitoring team yourself to guarantee that each outstanding payment is accounted for.
5. Provide additional ‘value-added’ services.
Value-added services are an excellent way to create additional revenue streams. This helps the customer because they can trust that these small responsibilities are taken care of by people they trust, and the agency can provide additional services for extra fees. That makes them more appealing to both new and existing clients. What these value-added services will be will depend on what your staff is comfortable providing and what you can reasonably provide at your usual level of care quality.
6. Connect with other health care providers.
Networking is a major source of new clients and can be a useful tool for growing your agency. Build relationships with referring physicians, nursing homes, hospitals and other establishments that offer care. This way, your agency can be top of mind for people as their plan of care starts to change or if they require homecare assistance down the road. See if you can set up a table for community outreach, attend networking events and seminars, or perhaps even host an educational event of your own to speak on your experiences and expertise in the field.
7. Dive into social media and SEO.
In this day and age, it is critical for agencies to have an online presence on apps like Facebook, LinkedIn, Instagram and even TikTok. Users are increasingly visiting social media apps to find information and relying on these sources for support in their decision-making. By creating content that matters to your potential and current audience, you are putting yourself out there as an expert and a reliable source of information and advice. This will increase your search engine optimization, drive site traffic and bring in new clients to your agency.
8. Explore new payment plans and fee structures.
It might seem counterintuitive to build revenue by getting paid less money all at once, but offering alternate payment opportunities is a very important customer retention strategy. In these difficult times, economic instability is very common, especially for marginalized and underrepresented communities. The worst thing that can happen to a client is having to decrease their care because of a lack of affordability. By offering payment plans, scaling fees and creating payment structures, you are allowing people of all backgrounds to receive care and opening yourself up to a new swath of clients.
9. Add virtual check-ins.
Telehealth is becoming increasingly popular in the post-pandemic period. Many doctors are offering virtual appointments for brief visits. This saves money, time and effort on both ends. There is a way to adapt this for homecare, where an aide or nurse can virtually check on a symptom or take note of any changes without much disruption. There could be an additional fee structure to make this a value-added service, or it can be whatever suits your business and client needs.
These are just a few of the opportunities that can help to grow your business and increase revenue. Not all of these will work for all agencies; however, they can be a jumping-off point as you start to think strategically, or as you have discussions with your marketing team if you have one.
The No. 1 takeaway is to think about your average client, what their needs and pain points are, and what gaps there are in your agency when it comes to meeting those concerns. By doing so, you can access the right plan to increase your business and see how it develops to its full potential.
