New York -- November 29, 2021
Preventing caregiver turnover is a huge issue for a home care agency. With a booming industry and the changes to the companionship law, HHA’s have better employment opportunities than ever.
Two thirds private home health care agencies found caregiver shortages to be one of their top three threats to business.
Linda Donev in her article in HAHC suggests that Health care agencies need to leverage technology and processes to address these and other challenges so they may attract and retain the best talent. She also suggests the following easy-to-follow steps will improve an HHA’s staff-retention rates, quality of care, and` bottom line:
1. Strive for client-caregiver compatibility.
Matching well-suited caregivers and clients is the first step in ensuring a successful relationship. Whether it is language requirements, similar interests, or knowing that a client responds well to a caregiver’s personality, an agency should aim to find as many similarities between caregivers and clients as possible. Obtaining as much information as possible — pets, likes, dislikes, allergies, food preferences, personality type, and so on — on the front end is key.
Carecenta matching engine enables schedulers and case coordinators alike to match caregivers and clients based on over 20 compatibility criteria.
HHAs manage client-caregiver compatibility internally on the front end. They can also improve these relationships by providing better access to information through web portals. These online “hubs,” or systems [like Carecenta], allow agencies to manage operations and store important client information so it is accessible to caregivers. When caregivers have access to their schedules and other pertinent information as soon as it is available, they can better plan their visits, make better use of demographic information on their clients, make their workdays more efficient, and provide clients with better care.
Carecenta allows agency to securely text and email caregiver schedules and provide portal access to their schedules and sign-in.
2. Use Point-of-Care, GPS and EVV technology.
While caregivers may not mind using paper during their home-care assessments, having to complete hours of paperwork after the visit is not time well spent. But that work process is typical for most paper-based agencies. Even clinicians who bring devices, such as laptops, to clients’ homes aren’t always equipped with wireless access to send data or may lack a convenient space to type notes. In this case, it’s often easier to take a paper assessment and then enter the data later, but that process does not improve efficiencies for caregivers. Fortunately, electronic tablets simplify charting while standing or sitting. By loading tablets with the appropriate home-assessment programs and creating a policy that requires onsite documentation, you can let caregivers complete their assessments at the point of care, which eliminates the need to rely only on their memory, handwritten notes, and manually syncing later. Granted, there is an initial learning curve when some clinicians begin using tablets. But most of them would not revert back to paper if given the choice.
In addition, this technology can often eliminate paper timesheets altogether. Smart phones with GPS allow caregivers to easily navigate, check in and out of visits, as well as capture tasks performed. Alternatively, electronic visit verification (EVV) systems allow caregivers to do many of these same tasks using clients’ home phones. Both methods reduce back-office work for payroll and billing and alleviate the burden of documentation for caregivers.
Carecenta provides state-of-the-art multilingual 800-number telephony clock-in and clock-out technology combined with the GPS-based locator sign-in that is by far the most advanced EVV (electronic visit verification) today.
3. Partner with vendors that understand your needs.
The health care industry has attracted hundreds of technology vendors that have tools designed to improve communication, work flow, documentation, data capture and business intelligence. Other vendors are new to home care and are still learning. But whatever vendors you choose, make sure they understand the industry, its regulations, and the day-to-day lives of those working both in the back office and in the home. Before seeking any solution, be sure to identify and document the needed functional requirements so you are not sold by just bells and whistles. That requirements list will grow as you see new features offered by various vendors, so it is important to request extensive demonstrations, customer references, and site visits.
Call your Carecenta home care software team member to find out more, or review Carecenta demo today at www.carecenta.com/pg/demo