Agency Management

Like all industries, running a home care agency comes with several challenges - whether you’re an experienced home care agency owner looking to improve operations or an entrepreneur establishing your business for the first time. Getting informed about these common problems with home health care can help you avoid major headaches, save money and make the best use of your precious time. Here are some of the most common challenges cited by home care agencies – and how you can prevent them: 1. Scheduling miscommunications As former agency owners ourselves, our team at FirstVisit knows how challenging it is to...

Business owners had a tough start to 2022. According to the Census Bureau, 8.8 million workers reported missing work between December 29 and January 10 alone. It’s a familiar story for home care agency leaders, who have been dealing with labor shortages long before last month, let alone the last two years. But lately, attendance has been at an all-time low, with many care workers snowed out, on mental health leave, isolating after exposure to the Omicron variant or caring for sick family members. Home care organizations scrambled to cover shifts, were forced to turn down referrals and begged care...

The last thing you want is to make a mistake that costs your agency. You might find yourself violating HIPAA guidelines in your home care business without realizing it. It is essential to check and recheck to ensure that you follow the HIPAA handbook. You’ll also know what is expected of you to be on the safe side. It’s hard to keep up with the complexity of HIPAA guidelines, especially for small home care businesses. The repercussions for violating the guidelines vary, ranging from fines as low as $100 to jail time. Having the right technology and training can help with...

The market for Home Care services is increasing. Over the next two decades a significant percentage of the population will join the over 65 sector. More and more aging seniors are opting to remain in their homes, if they can find a Home Care service capable of providing the services they require. Ready to tap this growing base of Home Care clients in your region? Is your goal to become known as the go-to home care company in your community? The secret to growing your Home Care business is to implement today’s most effective marketing principles. Get started today by reviewing this post and learning...

The future looks bright when it comes to the prospect of growing a home care business. But the goal of home care business growth today requires that owners manage and increase their online presence via smart Search Engine Optimization (SEO) tactics for home care businesses. If you're not familiar with online marketing, the prospect may seem daunting. But online marketing strategies are actually easier to implement and more effective than many traditional marketing tactics, once you understand the basic principles of how to manage - and increase - the online presence of your home care business.  An online presence for...

Once you get the hang of home care software, you will wonder how you lived without it.  The convenience it offers is on another level. However, it would help if you were careful that you didn't pay too much for the software. Especially if you’re not using half the features in the app. Head into the new year knowing you’re spending the correct amount of money on software that fits your particular needs.  Some of the signs you are overpaying for the home care software include: 1)    Features You Don't Need The best home care software customizes plans for...

As a home care agency owner, your priorities include getting clients and discussing the responsibilities your organization will assume. The next most important thing that such individuals will want to know is how much you will charge for the services your agency will be offering. Several factors come into play, in this case, including the qualifications of your employees, the services a particular client requires, extra tasks that may increase the workload, thereby warranting an additional charge, among other things. For that reason, there is no exact science when deciding how much you should charge clients as a home care agency operator....

Do you look forward to receiving reviews about your business? Reviews, whether negative or positive, can have a significant impact on your business. For instance, negative reviews can be seen by hundreds of customers, hurting your business reputation. With the increased number of social media users and review websites, businesses should be more concerned than ever about what customers are saying about them. Fortunately, negative reviews do not have to rest to loss of business. Instead, negative reviews can help you attract more clients to your business. Most clients trust a company that has a few negative reviews that the one that has no negative reviews. Hence negative...

Home care agency management can be a bit of a juggling act. Not so long ago, software systems for supporting the demanding tasks of marketing, accounting, and overall home care agency management, seemed non-existent. Thankfully, today, software options exist the can make the responsibility of running an agency much more manageable. Here, we will showcase three of them - one for marketing - one for organizing financial aspects of the business - one that encompasses both practical aspects of scheduling and staffing - plus payroll and record keeping.   Marketing Software to Build Business Various marketing strategies are important for...

Indeed, everyone will need help with basic tasks at some point in their life. The reason is that going to appointments, cooking, cleaning, and shopping may not seem to be a big deal, but for elderly seniors, patients recovering from surgery, and individuals with chronic medical conditions, all that will be a challenge. That is where a home care agency comes in handy because it helps people who require living assistance. On the other hand, these agencies have become lucrative business opportunities as the population continues to age. You also need to understand that the elderly will often have difficulties...