While bill and pay rates continue to rise, many agencies are figuring out how to provide long-term sustainable care plans that are both effective and affordable.
At the same time, technology implementation and data collection are two aspects of the evolving business that seem to be top of mind for many in the industry.
As part of our annual tradition, Home Health Care News heard from seven industry leaders and noted their takes on the biggest thing to watch for next year, and what the focus of their organization will be moving forward. Their names and predictions are below, edited for length and clarity.
Due to the rising pay rates for caregivers, the billing rates for family-funded personal care continue to rise. When will the rates begin to impact the demand and/or affordability of our care? While bill rates going up drive revenues higher, it is also driving average hours of care down. This is due to families having to spread their home care budget over less hours due to the rate increases. Since the bill rate increase percentages more than outweigh the lesser percentage drop-in average hours of care, home care agencies are still able to sustain a nice growth in net income. However, how long is this trend sustainable?
Our focus in 2023 is driving more new clients so the impact of fewer average hours is mitigated. More new clients at lower average hours per week (20-25) will provide more long-term sustainability. In addition, the introduction of technology in the home will help supplement our care and provide peace of mind to families when we are not in the home. Finally, we’ll also look at ways to provide fractional or neighborly care where we can leverage one caregiver to several clients therefore not relying on traditional hourly care. Technology will play a key role in this service delivery model as well.
