In Q4 of 2022 we met with 200+ home health agencies and compiled notes on why agencies are constantly seeking out new ways to optimize operational efficiency. We found that most of the organizations who place efficiency improvement as a never ending goal do so for a 3 key reasons.
- Reduce costs: A strong belief in streamlining processes and eliminating unnecessary steps or activities of yesterday’s home healthcare norms lowers expenses, increases overall profitability, and reduces field clinician attrition. The ability to measure various operational efficiency metrics and covert those metrics into a financial impact model was something most wished they had as they believed it could help significantly drive change/adoption across different stakeholders.
- Improve patient care: By implementing more efficient ways to deliver care and manage outcomes, home health clinical managers and field clinicians are able to take a focused approach to ensuring each patients receive the best possible care on time, ultimately improving patient outcomes and satisfaction scores that make up a large part of value-based purchasing scores.
- Stay competitive: In the highly competitive home health industry, they believe it is essential to stay ahead of the curve and offer the best possible services to patients. By constantly seeking out ways to improve operational efficiency, home health agencies remain competitive and increase referral source satisfaction mostly due to their ability to retain a higher-than-average referral conversion rate while delivering quality care that achieves desired results.
In conclusion, streamlining workflow processes for clinical and clerical staff is key to optimizing operational efficiency. This can be achieved through adopting new technology, collaborating with other agencies and outsourced service providers, or adjusting policies to better fit the current state of the organization. By implementing these strategies, home health agencies will be better equipped to serve their patients and staff in 2023 and beyond.
