6 Financial Planning Best Practices for Home Health Agencies

When it comes to your finances, every element of your agency plays a significant role. How you work with your clients, train your staff, and implement focused business practices will determine how smoothly everything runs. On top of that, you need to be realistic about your company and how well you are doing financially on an overall basis. Here are six best practices for you to implement to ensure that your home health agency is financially healthy.

Client Care

1. Be Honest With Your Clientele Every health agency should have the patient’s care in mind, first and foremost. It is important to be focused on your financial income, but if you are not fully focused on your patient’s care, your care quality will falter. This could mean referring patients to other care providers who are more qualified to help them. Doing so will reflect well on you in the end, because your reputation will reflect it. 2. Create A Policy Around Patient Financial Issues The more specific you are about what you are able to allow and not make accommodations for when it comes to financial issues, the better. If you do not have any lines defined, you can find yourself giving out charity that you simply cannot afford. Though you may want to, the reality is that you will not be able to provide healthcare if you are bankrupt.

Employee Training

3. Define Roles For Your Staff Based On Strengths Each staff member must be very clear on the role that they play, and this role should have been assigned to them based on their abilities. Staff members responsible for finances should be good with numbers and fully educated on claim processing and the best practices included. OASIS coding is extremely important and specific, hence this is where your reimbursement lies, therefore those dedicated to performing this task should be well versed and have no other duties but to ensure your finances are properly in order. 4. Offer Training Initially and Continuously Throughout Employment Your staff’s initial training should be thorough and adequate. As changes occur within their area, they will require more training. It is up to the managers in each department to ensure that their staff is fully informed and up to date on any changes that affect their job.

Financial Awareness

5. Assess Your Current Financial Health As a business owner, it is imperative that you are fully aware of your agency’s state of financial health. You can achieve this by monitoring who is handling your financials, how successful they are at their jobs, and determining what is causing any existing issues. At least monthly, you should review Accounts Receivable reports to see where you can better perform and if there are any financial hiccups in your agency. 6. Know When To Ask For Help It is common for healthcare providers to outsource their billing to ensure that their financials are in hands they know they can depend on — especially in the complicated and ever-changing world of home health. If you find yourself in the position where your agency is suffering — not due to your ability to provide care, but because of a gap in finance management — your best bet is to ask for help from the experts. This tends to be a hard decision to make, but in the end, you will eliminate your financial issues and not have to concern yourself with these details any longer. After all, your time is best served caring for your patients. For more information on the financial solutions that a medical billing company can offer a home health agency in financial trouble, contact us here.