Data-Driven Decision-Making in Home Care

Are you starting to plan out your strategy for 2025? Be sure to stick around as we lay out a few reports and data points that you should track. 

With the complex dynamics between labor and demand, pay and reimbursement rates, etc… you need to have a solid grip on where all of your team’s time and money is being spent. 

And once you’ve got a sense of where you stand, you can start to take action to automate processes, reduce manual burden on your team, and move the needle on these metrics. 

Here are a few metrics that are helpful as you begin to plan out hiring and other growth needs: 

• Caregiver turnover rate
• Revenue collection
• Referral source 

Identify caregiver turnover—and what to do next.

Activated Insights (formerly Home Care Pulse) has done extensive research on this, sharing that the current caregiver turnover rate is 79.2%. Is this in line with what your home care agency is seeing? 

To calculate your annual turnover rate, you can add up how many caregivers that have quit or been terminated in the last year and divide that figure by the average number of caregivers you have. Then, multiply that figure by 100. 

For example, let’s say you had 40 caregivers terminated, and you have an average of 80 caregivers at a time. 

40/80 = 0.50

0.50 X 100 = 50%

With this scenario, this agency would have a 50% turnover rate. You should be able to pull this information from your home care agency management system. 

Now that you know what your caregiver turnover rate is, let’s talk about ways to decrease your turnover rate: 

• Consistently evaluate scheduling. Scheduling is among the top reasons that caregivers leave an agency. Be sure to touch base with caregivers on a regular basis to gauge their availability, as it may change on a regular basis. This is a good time to check with them about how happy they are with their schedule, whether it’s the type of clients they’re working with, how far they’re driving, or just general compatibility. The more details, the better. 
• Reward them for a job well done. Caregiving work can feel thankless at times, causing their morale to decrease—to no fault of your own. Even better, if you can share positive feedback from a client, these are things that caregivers find invaluable. 
• Establish caregiver sabbatical programs. For caregivers that have worked with you for awhile, put together a program that rewards them for that loyalty and tenure. Caregiving can be emotionally taxing, especially as it compounds over the years. Make sure that you touch base with them on a regular basis on their emotional well-being, and to reach out at random times and occasions. 

READ MORE: 12 Ways to Appreciate Your Caregivers Outside

of National Caregivers Day

Get your revenue collection in check.

As your agency grows, you and your team’s grip on revenue collection is going to be increasingly important. That’s because as you diversify your payer mix—the billing processes is going to become more complex, as you’ll have to take action against private pay clients who are paying late, get a hold of LTCI companies that are late on payments, the VA, etc… 

Along with that, as your team works with more payer sources, they’re going to spend more time on billing. That takes away time from your other core operational tasks. 

You can calculate your revenue collection rate quickly by using one standard billing period so that this can be an apples-to-apples number. Let’s say: 

• One month is the billing period
• You billed $20,000 in care
• You received 18,500 in funds

Your revenue collection rate is 18,500/20,000 = 92.5%. 

Your agency management system should be able to pull this information for you and potentially even calculate that figure for you as well. 

There is no standard collection rate as it varies so widely by state, by your billing rate, by the payers that you work with, etc… You should always aim to get 100%, however, there is likely always going to be some room for error. 

If your team is struggling to collect, consider utilizing CareTime Revenue Cycle Management. Learn how a New York independent living center improved their revenue collection rate. 

Pay attention to the referral sources that are giving you regular business.

Your team needs to be out in the field marketing to referral sources, but they can’t always stop to make a visit to each one. This is where your systems and processes come into play. 

Every referral source should get communication from you on a regular basis, whether that’s an email, a LinkedIn message, or over coffee. Deciding that type of communication should come from your agency management system.

Look at your referral source reports on a monthly basis to determine which referral sources need more attention and are giving you the most referrals, and ultimately, actual revenue. 

WATCH MORE In Partnership with 52 Weeks Marketing: 

Session 3: Systematize Your Marketing for Accelerated Growth

Some of the more effective referral sources tend to be hospice providers, hospitals, and rehabilitation centers/nursing homes. You might not find that to be the case for your agency, since every location has a different set of competitors and relationships, etc. 

For example, Dr. Malik, Co-Founder of America A Care, has found that his home care agency’s sweet spot was through word-of-mouth referrals built from trusted relationships—and exceptional client care experiences. Read the full story here.

Don’t go into 2025 driving blind.

Having a firm handle on the numbers that your agency is driving is essential to guiding your planning and strategy for next year.  

Start by analyzing your team’s current performance while asking them to share areas of opportunity (and of course, you should weigh in too). 

Then, manage expectations, set some realistic goals, and develop a plan to achieve them. And of course, the plan might change or need tweaks as time goes on. Use this as a roadmap to motivate your team for the rest of the quarter while planning on how much better next year is going to be with those goals in mind.

If your agency management system isn’t able to provide the reporting and data you need, consider switching to CareTime as part of your planning. Schedule your demo here.