us
How Much of Your Home Health Agency's Resources Are You Wasting on Manual Processes?
Asha Neil
The Real Cost of Manual Processes for Home Health Agencies
Time spent on manual tasks soon builds up. Here at ShiftCare, we surveyed 50 businesses to discover how much home health organizations can save with care software that supports process automation.
We found that even small organizations have the potential to save tens of thousands of dollars every year.
A home health business with 5 staff members and 15 active patients can save $23,388 a year on average — and that's after accounting for the cost of the software.
Wondering exactly how much your business is losing due to manual processes? Use our savings calculator to discover the potential savings of your home health agency.
4 Reasons Manual Processes Are So Costly
Labor hours quickly add up, but they're not the only reasons that manual systems lead to higher expenses.
#1 High Labor Costs
Manual tasks contribute to higher costs — and stressed-out teams! It can take your back office team hours to manually copy timesheet data over to your invoicing and payroll software. In the day-to-day running of your business, there are many repetitive tasks that take significant time to do manually. And that's without considering the time organizations spend training staff members on how to do them.
Process automation can help organizations by reducing the time their staff spends on repetitive tasks. In fact, cutting labor expenses is one of the biggest benefits of process automation.
#2 Risk of Human Error
Spending hours completing repetitive manual tasks can contribute to high rates of human error. It can be hard for employees to focus when they're experiencing fatigue.
Errors often prove expensive for organizations. A typo in an invoice, for example, can lead to late payment and extra time spent fixing the mistake. More serious errors could result in compliance issues and privacy breaches, especially if the wrong staff member is given access to protected patient information.
Automation can prevent human error and help your agency improve billing and payroll, accuracy, compliance, and quality standards. You'll benefit from reduced expenses and smoother operations.
#3 Poor Data Collection
Data collection can help organizations make the most of future opportunities by spotting areas with potential for improvements. However, collating data can be time-consuming, especially when done manually.
Without automation, many home care agencies are unable to effectively track and analyze data. This means they lose out on insights on everything from their financial performance to staff no-shows and appointment cancelations. As a result, they are unable to take the steps that would lead to better business operations.
#4 Lack of Capacity for Growth
Manual tasks make scaling your business challenging. Depending on your business size, taking on just one or two more clients could require hiring additional back office staff so they can complete the admin work. This can prevent you from growing and represent significant lost earnings over the years.
Easy Opportunities for Automation
Automation can contribute to more efficient operations. Benefits include reduced errors, less time wasted on manual tasks, and a greater capacity for future growth.
Tasks that are ripe for automation include:
Staff Availability
Ask your team to set their scheduling preferences via your home health software, and the system will automatically ensure that nobody is scheduled on their requested day off.
By using automation software for bidding on jobs, you can also quickly find cover when staff members call in sick. You'll reduce the time wasted on manual tasks, and your staff will benefit from greater control over their work-life balance.
Document Management
Home health software will automate the process of removing staff without up-to-date documentation from the schedule, which will reduce the risk of non-compliance. And by setting up document expiry notifications, you can avoid this issue altogether.
Scheduling
Automation tools make scheduling easy. Set up recurring and group shifts in your home health software, and you'll be able to build your weekly schedules in minutes.
You can also use automation to empower your patients. Invite them to set their preferences via your home health software, and you'll gain a competitive advantage over other agencies.
Billing and Payroll
Automation software can auto-generate invoices based on shift records, expenses documentation, and more. It's an efficient way to ensure accurate billing and payroll.
Information Sharing
Automation software will share schedules with staff members and control their access to patient information such as care plans. You'll be able to guarantee patients' privacy. And your employees will be able to focus on caregiving tasks instead of chasing down the information they need to do their work.
Financial Reports
By reducing the time spent on data collection, your home health agency can benefit from a competitive edge. Auto-generated productivity and financial reports will give you ideas for ways to reduce expenses and maximize profits.
3 Best Practices for Automating With Software
To help your organization reap the benefits of an automated system, make sure to:
Train your teams so that they understand how best to use your automation software.
Choose home health software that integrates with your other tools, such as accounting and payroll software. The more integrations you have, the easier it is to automate.
Make sure your automation tools are HIPAA-compliant.
Free Up Your Resources With Home Health Agency Software
Automation of manual tasks can help home health organizations remain competitive, operate more efficiently, and reduce staff stress levels.
When your agency automates its processes, your team will discover they have more time available to focus on what really matters: supporting the delivery of high-quality home care.
ShiftCare's HIPAA-compliant home care software helps you automate scheduling, patient plan management, billing and payroll, communications, and more. Our users report saving hours of time by using ShiftCare for their admin tasks.
Discover how automation can enable your agency to thrive. Try ShiftCare for free.
