Healthcare

How To Set Up A Quality Home Health Care Services Business | Private Nurse

Business Starts At Home

There are nearly 40 million seniors in the USA; of these, almost 80% have at least two chronic ailments. Many seniors also suffer from strokes, heart disease, arthritis, depression, incontinence, and diabetes, to make matters worse. With advancing age, many seniors end up in nursing homes or long-term facilities. However, a significant number of seniors do reside at home either alone or with a family member. Many of these seniors cannot visit a primary care physician for various reasons; some cannot perform daily activities, and others remain bedridden. With hospitals discharging patients earlier than ever, many have to look after themselves. All of this has given rise to the fantastic home care industry.

Open An At Home Care Service

Home health care, also known as non-medical home care, is often provided to senior citizens who need assistance with daily living and medical activities but cannot do it themselves. This care is not limited to seniors but individuals of all ages. This is called family home health services. Non-medical at-home care healthcare services generally include:

Preparing meals
Assistance with bathing, ambulation
Help with putting on clothes
General housekeeping
Providing transportation to run errands
Taking the senior to the doctor or clinic

It is essential to understand that a more complicated medical home care industry in the USA usually involves registered and licensed personnel.

Is The HomeCare Business For Everyone?

Even though home healthcare is a rewarding business, it is not for everyone. At a minimum, a person considering opening a home healthcare business should have a healthcare background and be a licensed healthcare professional.

Qualifications For A Home Healthcare Business?

The business owner should have a healthcare degree or diploma. Also, at a minimum, all your employees should be certified nursing assistants or licensed vocational nurses. A background check on all employees is necessary because they will enter and look after seniors in their homes. Medicare will also ask about your employees at the time of registration.

What Are The Negatives Of Opening A Home Healthcare Business?

Hard work, as some patients need help.
Constant emergencies
Stress
Difficulty in getting reimbursed. Unlike in the past, Medicare and Medicaid tend to reimburse slowly. There are submission deadlines, you must use the correct billing codes, and they continually perform audits to ensure there is no fraud.
Hiring employees can be arduous because few people want to do the required work. Turnover is high because many younger workers move on to other jobs.
Long-distance travel
Technological upkeep and maintenance
Working in isolation
Finally, not everyone wants to help others, and some workers can be unkind to patients, which can harm the business.

Who Needs Home Healthcare?

For the past two decades, the home healthcare industry has grown rapidly. There are millions of people who need home care for reasons that include:

Palliative care
Stroke
Motor vehicle accident or trauma resulting in paralysis
Following surgery
End-of-life care
Cancer
Depression
Dementia
Rehabilitation following surgery, injury, or stroke

The majority of patients who need home care are the elderly. While some need specialized medical care, most need basic support with daily living activities, assistance with a doctor visit, ambulation, primary wound care, feeding, and medication administration.

What Type Of Insurance Is Needed To Run A Home Care Business?

You need professional liability insurance, also known as E & O insurance. The liability insurance covers negligence, bodily injury, personal injury, and property damage caused by the home visit. Liability insurance also pays for defense costs in case of litigation.

Here is a list of some standard insurance companies

What Are The Start-up Costs For A Homecare Business?

Startup costs will include the following:

Rent for an office location
Office equipment and supplies
Licensing & Certification
Setting up a legal entirety
Registering the business
Employee salary
Utilities
Marketing
Insurance
Nursing supplies
Miscellaneous costs like gas for transport, car registration, and insurance
Training the employees
Reserve funds to maintain the business viable for at least six months

Thus, the minimum startup costs can vary from $50K to $250K.

Home Healthcare Business Income

Data from the Department of Labor reveals that home healthcare is a recession-proof profession expected to grow. With the number of seniors expected to double within the next few decades, many of these individuals will require home healthcare services. Further, with a shortage of nursing homes and long-term care beds, many seniors will have no choice but to receive care at home.

Private Home Care License

Before opening your home healthcare business, you must apply for a state license. The three things you will need to obtain a permit include the following:

Incorporate your business.
Obtain an EIN and Register for state and federal taxes
Obtain a National Provider Identifier number

Ensure you have covered all the bases; getting in touch with the State Department of Health is crucial. All necessary certificates and licenses should be obtained, especially from Medicare and Medicaid, because these agencies will reimburse your company for most of your services.

How Profitable Is A Home Healthcare Solutions Business?

The hourly rate for home healthcare service workers ranges from $25-$35. So if you are offering services every day of the week and you have 4-10 employees working for you, you can easily make $150,000 a year. That is a sizable income.

For seniors who have not enrolled with Medicare, home healthcare costs can vary from $30-$90 per hour. These are out-of-pocket expenses.

How Do I Start A Home Healthcare Business?

If you want to gain a better understanding of the home healthcare business, it is vital to make a business plan that contains the following:

What shall I call my homecare business?
Who are my clients?
How many people will I employ?
Will I run my business from home or an office?
What are the startup costs for a home healthcare business?
What equipment or tools will I need to start a home healthcare business?
Will I require a license to run a home healthcare business?
Who will pay for the home healthcare services?
What will I charge for my home healthcare services?
Do my employees need to be licensed and registered?

Mobile Health Care Employees

The key to success in the home healthcare business is hiring the best employees. It is vital to select people who share your vision of helping others. These individuals will visit patients in their homes, so they will absolutely need to be honest, trustworthy, reliable, and friendly. The community has to know that you provide the best, most highly-quality professionals for their home care needs. When hiring employees, we advise working with an employment agency.

What Are Some Options For Starting An Amazing Home Care Business?

You have three options, and they include the following:

Purchase into a Home Care Franchise. These can cost anywhere from $300K to $600K. They come with many expenses, including franchise fees, training fees, administrative fees, royalty fees, etc. Some of these franchises may help provide partial funding. You will need to have close to $300k-$600K to buy into a franchise.
Buy an existing home healthcare agency. Not a bad option if the business is profitable, has reliable employees, and is Medicare certified. Buying an existing Home Care Agency can cost anywhere from $100K to $2 million. If the agency is already Medicare certified, add another $200K to expenses. Unless you have experience buying an existing business, you should consult a lawyer and an accountant first. You will need to review the financials and tax statements to ensure the company is legitimate and has an excellent overall reputation.
Creating a new independent home care agency is an excellent option as it requires the least amount of money, but getting certified can take some time.

How Do I Market My Home Healthcare Business?

Create a webpage
Distribute your business card to physicians, social workers, nursing agencies, pharmacists, and hospitals
Participate in social media sites
Post flyers in the local residential community about your services

When promoting the business, old-fashioned leg work still works. Make an appointment and visit long-term health facilities, outpatient rehab centers, local senior homes, and other long-term care facilities. Forming a partnership with these facilities can provide an endless supply of customers.

Finally, create relationships with local businesses and make your services known within your local community. The more you hobnob with healthcare decision-makers, the more likely you will procure referrals.

Here are a few of your marketing options

Build Your Own At-Home Care Website

Your restaurant domain name protects your website address on the internet. You can register a domain name with any hosting company you choose.

Some of the common domain registrars include:

Here is a list of options for building a regular website.

Here is a list of drag-and-drop page builders for WordPress.

How Can I Make My Home Care Business Successful?

Obtain client reviews
Share positive reviews on your website
Obtain third-party endorsements
Offer top-notch services
Offer services to out-of-reach areas
Train your staff to be polite, courteous, and helpful
Don’t try to do it all on your own
Break out of the office mode and seek customers outside of the computer
Always maintain good service and have friendly staff on board
Ensure that no harm ever comes to a patient as a result of the services you provide

How Can I Make My Home Care Business Successful?

Obtain client reviews
Share positive reviews on your website
Obtain third-party endorsements
Offer top-notch services
Offer services to out-of-reach areas
Train your staff to be polite, courteous, and helpful
Don’t try to do it all on your own
Break out of the office mode and seek customers outside of the computer
Always maintain good service and have friendly staff on board
Ensure that no harm ever comes to a patient as a result of the services you provide

Does Medicare/Medicaid Pay For Home Healthcare Visits?

It is essential to understand that Medicare has several guidelines on how home healthcare visits must be performed and billed. First, the coverage is only for 60 days, and the doctor must first approve any service you provide. Plus, you must register your business with Medicare and Medicaid for reimbursement. The onus is on you to inform your clients about the payments. Medicare may not pay the total cost of home healthcare services.

Medicare Certification

It is critically important that your business obtains proper Medicare and Medicaid certifications. Medicare has a complex application process before approving your business for reimbursements. There is a 3-day audit of your business operations, including how you maintain patient records. All employees visiting patients must make notes that must be preserved and remain confidential.

Here are a few online education providers

Medicare Provider Eligibility

For your home care business to be eligible for Medicare coverage, the patient must meet the following criteria:

Must be under the care of a primary care provider and receive therapies as part of a treatment plan. The physician must review the patient’s progress.
The primary care provider must certify that the patient needs one of the following services:

Speech-language therapy
Occupational therapy
Physical therapy
Intermittent skilled-level nursing care

Some states require a new home care business owner to take a jurisprudence exam before granting a license to operate.

Patient Eligibility For Medicare Home Care services

If you want to be Medicare-certified for home care, you must meet the following criteria:

The patient is ready for home discharge
The patient only requires acute or short-term care

The Approval Process

Certifying your business with Medicare and Medicaid is a lengthy bureaucratic process. If you have all the required documentation, it can take 4-6 weeks; also, it can take up to 6-12 months in extreme cases. On top of that, each state has its own set of requirements for running a home healthcare business.

Equipment For A Home Care Business?

Here are a few specialist companies

Check out these other ideas

Car
Office equipment
Uniforms
Furniture
Communication devices and software
Telephone
PC
Personal protective equipment- gloves, masks, apron
Incontinence care- bedpan, briefs, liners, mattress pads, disposable wipes, ointments
Sanitizers
Antibacterial soap
Surface wipes
Cleaning supplies
Bath Safety; commode, bath stool or seat, support rails
Ambulatory devices- cane, walker, wheelchair
Body washes, shampoo
Combs, shaving supplies
Powder
Non-slip mats

Here is a list of popular auto trader websites

Conclusion

The home healthcare business is a 93 billion-dollar industry, and it’s growing every year. By the year 2050, they expect the number of seniors to double, and most will need some form of home care. Thus, there are ample business opportunities in this field. The business should provide a good living for those who work hard and remain dedicated.