Leveraging Home Care Technology to Operate at Scale for Your Franchise

Your home care agency management software gives your business lungs to start and sustain operations. Make sure that you select one that’s built for the scale of your growth. 

Making a decision on a software platform isn’t made by one person or group of people. It requires unified understanding and agreement between multiple stakeholders that work in various departments. 

We put together a few tips on how to leverage your home care software to the fullest extent with your franchise organization. 

Find a system that is easy for caregivers—and you—to use. 

Before looking at the bells and whistles of what an agency management system can do, consider the ease of use. Caregivers are the core end users of any platform; they should be the primary consideration in your search/evaluation process. 

In speaking to customers over the years, platforms that require a high level of training and attention for franchise partners to understand can, in turn, be increasingly harder to onboard and train caregivers on. 

Don’t underestimate the importance of the visual interface, down to the menu tab organization and how scheduling calendars are laid out. 

Pro-Tip: Consider allowing a small group of caregivers to sit in on live demos of the system’s mobile app, or share a link to a virtual demonstration they can view. 

Set up multiple locations in one simple view.

When managing large-scale home care operations, you need full visibility into your locations separately and together.

Many home care agency management systems are built for one individual location, and not designed for scale or growth that franchises need. “When you’re setting up satellite or remote offices that need different addresses, or you’re looking to add operations across state lines, having full visibility into each location is critical to identifying opportunities for growth,” shared Julio Barea, head of sales at CareTime. “You can also find gaps and solve loose ends that you might not have seen otherwise.” 

In completing competitive research, we’ve found that there are a lot of agency management platforms in today’s home care world, but many are unable or ill-equipped to grow at the speed of territory growth and expansion. 

Manage multiple payers with ease.

New franchise partner onboarding usually includes an overview of the home care payer landscape, and you need an operating system that’s designed to manage each kind without the need for multiple logins or platforms. 

“With CareTime, you can manage Medicaid Waivers, Long Term Care Insurance (LTCI), Veterans Affairs (VA), and other clients without having to search for a separate vendor,” shared Barea. “In our latest product update, CareTime V3, you can enjoy: 

• Billing While You Sleep: Wake up to a notification sharing how many claims were submitted overnight.
• Automated Rules Engine: Set rules for each payer source and get alerts for claims that need attention.
• Evverything in one place: One comprehensive view for your EVV and claims data with real-time updates so you’re not in the dark.”

We’ve studied the payer landscape at-length and in line with Home Care Pulse’s findings, the private pay market is shrinking. Although private pay still has a majority foothold in revenue, the percentage has fallen year-over-year. 

While you put efforts into bolstering your private pay client base, here are some statistics on third party payers to help spread out your payer mix: 

• Veterans: In 2021, there were more than 8 million veterans ages 65 and older. This group continues to grow and will need more care over time, especially since their dependents and other family members are eligible for certain services too. For VA clients that utilize Aid and Attendance benefits or respite for a family member, there’s an opportunity as their needs increase to add private pay hours. Working with veterans is a great way to give back to your community, and put a foot in the door to supporting the family as a whole. 

What’s more, veterans know other veterans, and when you care for one, they will spread the word about your home care agency to their peers, friends, and family members. You might also find a niche in recruiting veterans as caregivers too. 

• Long Term Care Insurance: Roughly 7.5 million people have a form of Long Term Care Insurance in place, which could be spread out between traditional Long Term Care Insurance (LTCI) policies, and Long Term Care Insurance riders found in certain life insurance policies. Most long term care insurance policies cover $165,000 per year, the majority of which could be put toward home care and related services. As many individuals begin the planning process earlier in life, LTCI clients will be a growing population in the years to come. 
• CDPAP: Many states have some form of a consumer-directed or self-directed program. This allows family caregivers or a friend of a client to get paid to care for them, we’ll talk more about them below. 

This is only a small portion of the payer landscape. What payers are you interested in working with? Let us know.

Monitor the health of your business on the go.

As a home care business owner, you’re probably not in the office that much. Wearing multiple hats, you might be out meeting with new power partners, catching up with family visits, or counseling caregivers at a client’s home. 

Regardless of where you’re at, you should be able to safely and securely navigate within your agency management system—whether that’s your phone, tablet, or laptop. 

Dr. Malik of America A Care shared “When a client needs something from me, I take immediate action. It’s a team effort, and I’ve got the confidence that Caretime can tend to my backend when I’m not at my desk.” His agency’s value proposition hinges on 100% client satisfaction and organic growth. His story, along with many others, highlights the importance of having a self-sustaining operating system that supports your time commitment to your clients and caregivers. 

With robust (and easily accessible) reporting features, you can see the status of each claim you have in progress and pull revenue by referral source. Find out which power partners are fueling your growth and are best positioned to help you achieve your goals this year. 

[RELATED READING: How To Make the Most of Your Home Care Power Partners]

Explore new business lines—without starting from scratch.

The standards that home care agencies are held to will continue to increase along with demand. That means to stay competitive, you have to branch out and offer multiple services. 

Best of Care, for example, acquired Moving Mentor, demonstrating a strategic move (pun intended) that positions the company for growth in the years to come while expanding its prospective client pool. 

And, of course, being in a franchise organization, you have to be able to launch and offer new programs at scale. 

Have you ever heard of a bi-model or tri-model of care? There are three models of home care: 

• Home Care Agency
• Home Care Registry/Virtual Marketplace
• Consumer-Directed

There are different regulations by state, and you can learn more by checking out a partner webinar we hosted with Polsinelli. Click the image below to watch the recording for Breaking down the models of home care: consumer-directed versus agency.

Standalone home care franchises will need to think creatively and innovatively to expand service lines and integrate technology in their operations to stay ahead of the competition. 

What service lines are you looking to add in your agency? 

Leverage your home care agency management system to operate your franchise at scale.

There are many factors to consider as you evaluate options for your operating system, and we hope that this guide was helpful. 

Here are the factors you should consider: 

• Caregiver usability 
• Multiple location functions
• Payer options
• Reporting and business intelligence 
• Business line expansion

If your home care franchise is looking to make a switch, contact us for a demo today.