HHA eXchange Homecare Agency Growth User Guide

HHA eXchange Homecare Agency Growth

Most homecare agencies today have two main goals: to offer the best care possible and to grow their business. Given that providing quality care is a full-time job and just keeping a business afloat can be challenging enough, plans to grow often fall to the wayside. Fortunately, there are simple steps you can take to improve your business – without burning out in the process. We’ve outlined our best tips in this guide.

DEFINE YOUR STRATEGY

Building a well-defined strategy is the first, and arguably most important, step towards accomplishing your goals. Taking the time to outline your objectives, necessary resources, and the specific actions needed will help you clear any mental clutter and narrow your focus to what matters most. When it comes to setting your growth target, it’s best to be practical. You are not going to triple your census size overnight. If you start with small, achievable goals, you’re more likely to build positive momentum and less likely to procrastinate or give up on your ambitions altogether.

STRENGTHEN YOUR RECRUITMENT AND RETENTION EFFORTS

Without caregivers, you don’t have a business – plain and simple. If you want to increase the number of patients your agency serves, you need to ensure you have enough well-qualified people to care for them. Invest in your recruiting process and make every effort to only hire those you’d trust to care for your own loved ones. Remember: a hasty hiring decision could cost your business – at the least, $2,600 to replace the caregiver*; at the most, your reputation. If you already have great aides on staff, do everything in your power to keep them! Reward them monetarily for a job well done, invest in their training, and take their career advancement seriously. Additionally, keep an eye out for your competition – and don’t assume your caregivers aren’t doing the same .

EMBRACE SOCIAL MEDIA

Social media is not just for catching up with distant relatives and showing off your latest DIY projects. It can also be a valuable, cost-effective tool for marketing and growing your business. You don’t need to be a social media guru to see results. You can make an impact simply by building a content calendar and being consistent in your posting efforts.

Not sure what to post? Here are some ideas to start:

• Company events – invites, updates, and follow-ups
• Caregiver spotlights
• “About Us” videos – You don’t need anything snazzy; a quick and clean smartphone video of an agency executive explaining when, why, and how the business got started works just as well.
• Blog posts with information your clients might find useful
• Relevant news articles
• Testimonials from happy caregivers and/or clients
• Awards your agency recently won or was nominated for

There are several user-friendly social media platforms you can utilize to reach your ideal audience. We recommend starting with Facebook, LinkedIn, or Instagram. Don’t hesitate to experiment with different platforms to see where you get the most engagement.

FIND YOUR EDGE

A great way to stand out against your competition is to determine what your company does best – and let it be known. For example, perhaps your agency is most respected for the quality of its patient experience, or maybe there’s a certain category you specialize in, such as dementia care or mental health support. Whatever makes your agency unique, say it proudly. Incorporate your best attribute into a company slogan or mission statement and promote it across the board – on your website, social media pages, brochures, display signs, and anywhere else that comes to mind.

AUTOMATE SCHEDULING WITH INNOVATIVE TOOLS

When constructing your growth strategy, you’ll also want to examine your internal processes to pinpoint anything that might be holding you back. For example, given how time-consuming scheduling can be, it could very well be hindering your growth efforts. Fortunately, there are powerful tools you can implement that will help simplify scheduling and reduce your operational costs.

With HHAeXchange for example, you can easily create and manage patient schedules based on authorizations and plans of care. HHAeXchange also allows you to instantly broadcast open cases to all available caregivers to fill open shifts within minutes, and optimize caregiver-patient matching based on availability, location, patient needs, or special requests.

EXPERIMENT WITH DIFFERENT FORMS OF ADVERTISING

Maybe you’ve already tried billboards, print, radio, and even TV ads but they haven’t delivered the desired results. Why not give online advertising a go? You can run a simple Google Ads campaign, or advertise on a social media platform, like Facebook or LinkedIn. You get the point – it’s 2021 and there are countless ways to promote your agency.

Still, keep in mind that good, old-fashioned word-of-mouth is your friend. In fact, it is one of the most effective forms of advertising. According to Nielsen, 92% of consumers trust recommendations from friends and family over all forms of advertising. If clients have a positive experience with you, they’re going to tell their network about it when the topic presents itself. The same applies to growing your staff. If you make your agency a great place to work, and treat your caregivers with respect, then they’re likely to talk about it — and bring others on board.

TAKE CONTROL OF YOUR REVIEWS

Sure, ignorance may be bliss – but not when it comes to your online reviews. If there are reviews of your business online, positive or negative, you need to know about them.

According to the website ReviewTrackers:

• 94% of consumers say that a bad review has convinced them to avoid a business.
• 53% of customers expect businesses to respond to negative reviews within a week. But 63% say that a business has never responded to their review.
• 45% of consumers say they’re more likely to visit a business that responds to negative reviews.

Get into the right mindset, google your business, and face the results head- on. Bad reviews can sting, and some may not even be truthful, but it is your job as a business owner to respond maturely and as constructively as possible. Thank the person for their review, offer a sincere apology, take responsibility for what happened, and do what you can to make things right.

STREAMLINE YOUR BILLING AND PAYROLL PROCESSES

As is the case with other time-consuming processes like scheduling, your billing and payroll systems could be holding you back. The good news? Innovative technology can get you on track. With an automated one-step invoicing system like HHAeXchange, providers can: better coordinate payments and manage split billing; guarantee receipt of electronic remittances;

customize invoice templates based on payer; accurately calculate payroll hours by a caregiver, and improve communication with accounting packages and payroll companies. Agencies that once spent days processing payroll are down to only 30 minutes with HHAeXchange. Just imagine what you could get done with all that free time.

Here at HHAeXchange, our mission is to help simplify your operations, so you can focus on growing your business. Learn more.

References

• Homecare Software Solutions for Payers & Agencies | HHAeXchange

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