The State of the Home Healthcare Industry in 2024

The healthcare sector continues to face numerous challenges in 2024, including what McKinsey describes as “material risks to profitability for providers.”

Labor shortages, inflation and the continuing impact of the COVID-19 pandemic affect healthcare organizations’ ability to hire and retain talented healthcare professionals, achieve financial resilience and provide quality patient care.

HIPAA compliance is another pressing concern for home healthcare. Despite the act’s relatively long history, healthcare organizations still struggle with data protection in a world of rapidly evolving new technologies. 

The most recent Report to Congress on Privacy Rule and Security Rule Compliance found a 39% increase in complaints and a 58% increase in large breaches since 2017. For home healthcare professionals, avoiding data leaks can be a particularly difficult task. While machine learning and artificial intelligence are some of the biggest tech-related news headlines of 2023, the healthcare industry is more concerned with data security. 

However, there are also reasons for optimism, especially when we examine healthcare data. With an aging population that’s increasingly impacted by chronic conditions and disability, demand for healthcare — whether home-based care or provided in a healthcare facility — is projected to grow.

Patients continue to prefer in-home care when planning for the future. Despite a pandemic-related dip in 2020–21, the home healthcare services market is expected to see significant growth this decade. Projections by Fortune Business Insights point to an increase from $94.17 billion in 2022 to $153.19 billion by 2029.

Of course, meeting growing demand also brings its own challenges. But health care agencies who are prepared for this will find they are well positioned to scale their business, improve profits and thrive.

The Keys to Agency Growth (And Better Patient Outcomes)

The development of a business strategy will help home healthcare organizations grow their business while prioritizing care quality. Key aspects to consider in your strategy include:

Staff Recruitment and Retainment 

Attracting and retaining talented healthcare professionals will be essential to meeting the increased demand for home health services. With America’s labor shortage hitting the health sector particularly hard, home healthcare agencies must make the employee experience a top priority.

Ensuring Quality Control 

As your home healthcare agency grows, you want to ensure better outcomes for patients — not worse. This means you need a quality control system in place that works well no matter what size your company is.

Improving Efficiencies

The more efficient your business is, the easier it is to grow. Efficiency will help you avoid bottleneck situations, such as being unable to take on additional clients because you can’t afford to hire a staff member. Efficient operations will also help you improve your financial resilience, cash flow, and profit margins, all of which are essential for growth.

Digital Technology

Taking advantage of new developments in healthcare technology, from scheduling software to apps and portals for patients’ loved ones, will help healthcare providers stay ahead of the curve. Technology can support your organization in everything from ensuring data security to efficient patient onboarding.

How Healthcare Organizations Can Use Software to Drive Agency Growth

Home healthcare software has an important role to play in your growth strategy. It allows healthcare organizations to offer person-centric patient care, ensure data compliance, and improve profit margins. In particular, health care software offers:

Enhanced Care 

Modern healthcare software facilitates improved patient care and health outcomes. It can have a significant positive impact on the patient experience by enabling better quality control, improving patient documentation and giving patients greater choice over their care. 

Plus, software ensures your team members have the tools they need to make appropriate healthcare decisions.

Worker Satisfaction

New technology provides workers with the support they need to provide exceptional care. In doing so, it can reduce stress levels and increase job satisfaction. Moreover, healthcare management software with advanced scheduling tools will help you improve your team’s work-life balance, and in doing so, reduce the risks of burnout. 

Data Security 

You’ll be able to avoid security issues with HIPAA-compliant software featuring enhanced document management settings for electronic medical records. This will help you protect yourself against costly data breaches and leaks while ensuring your staff has access to relevant patient information.

Greater Efficiency

Modern healthcare software comes with essential features for improving healthcare organizations’ efficiency levels. Funds tracking, expenses and accounting integrations will support you in staying on top of your finances. Intuitive scheduling and communications features can lead to reduced time and labor costs. And auto-generated invoices will help ensure you get paid quicker. 

In turn, this efficiency can enable you to reduce risk while scaling your business. 

Software Built Around the Needs of Home Healthcare Agencies

Software can help agencies adapt to the challenges facing the healthcare industry today and in the future. It can improve record-keeping and compliance, create schedules that suit patients and caregivers alike and help you reduce your agency’s costs while maintaining the same high-quality standards. 

ShiftCare’s HIPAA-compliant home care management software takes care of the admin side of running your home healthcare organization so you can focus on what really matters: providing exceptional care while growing your business. It can save you hours of admin time, plus you can onboard new clients in minutes. And the document management settings will ensure your team members have all the information they need to provide quality care services. 

Discover how the right software can help your home healthcare agency grow in 2024 and beyond. Try ShiftCare for free.