Do You Need To Hire A Consultant For Your Agency Start-Up? Don't Try To Save A Few Dollars Now And End Up Pulling Your Hair Out Later Because Your Mistakes Keep You From Starting!
August 27, 2021
What Does A Consultant Bring To Your Table?
When thinking about the cost of consulting services, new agencies often think utilizing those services will cost too much. Let's look at what consulting brings to the table and how much it can potentially cost you if you don't use it. As we consider all these items, you must also look at what time and money it would take you to complete these items without any help.
- Rules and Regulations: Many don't realize how much regulatory over sight goes into community based services. We have often heard from providers that initially they thought it was more about the caregivers providing the services and basically the agency billing. There was a disconnect about the infection control measures, supplies, training, and documentation requirements that go into a new agency. A consultant knows these regulations very well having worked throughout the US with agencies on understanding where to find the guidelines and how to comply with them. Getting to this point independently can be very difficult and providers often don't know they didn't properly apply regulation until survey time. By then, they have incurred more cost to continue care that is not reimbursed.
- Policy Manuals: This goes hand-in-hand with your regulations. Creating a brand new policy manual is cumbersome and takes a ton of time. Many of the consultants you hire have policy and procedure manuals that already have all the regulations written for accreditation and non-accreditation. Your only work to do is to customize it online so everything fits your agency. For instance, your line of authority will be in the manual you receive from your consultant, but you will just need to put position titles in place so that line of authority fits your agency.
- Software: Consultants work with different EMR systems and have connections to billing contacts. You will be able to make a more informed choice regarding your clinical and financial software and receive tips to help to set it up correctly.
- Clinical Review: Once you have patients on board, you need someone to review documentation to see if frequencies have been followed, orders have been appropriately written/ signed, and everyone has followed the plan of care appropriately. This includes compliance with recertification, Oasis, discharge and transfer summaries, Hospice CTIs etc. Making sure you know what you are missing is extremely important.
- Mock Surveys: Many consultants have vast experience and expertise when it comes to survey processes. Investing in a mock survey will help you understand the routine of the survey and how it will proceed with a surveyor on site. However, the consultant will be objective and then educate you on what needs adjusted prior to your live survey from the accrediting body or state agency. This is the entire picture put together from clinical to operations and human resources. Without a mock survey, agencies often don't receive certification on the first or second survey effort. This means multiple additional surveys as well as continued care to patients and employees on your dime because you can't bill yet.
Let Kenyon Homecare Consulting Help You!
At Kenyon Homecare Consulting
, we have consultants located throughout the US to help you start your agency the right way. We have individual consulting for hire as well as items such as policy manuals that can be purchased separately. We also have start-up packages that will get your marketing materials and insurance costs covered as well as unlimited consultant access to help you meet your goals. Call us today at 206-721-5091 or contact us
online to see how we can help you start on off on the right foot!
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HOPE Question and Answer Repository
Today, this article will look at little different than out typical articles. We all know the costs of losing employees and trying to hire and train new ones. It is exhausting and expensive. So, we think about our wages and benefit packages all the time. What can we do differently that makes people stay? We can’t change the job and we don’t want to keep people that don’t like the work itself. So, how do we acknowledge employees in a way that is valuable to them and that our businesses can afford to do? 5 Things To Consider About Employee Recognition At Your Christmas Party: 1. Years of Service: These can be based on milestone work anniversaries (5, 10, 15 yrs, etc.). If a person has been at your agency 11 years, you pull them up and acknowledge them in the group of employees who have been there at least 10 years up until the time they hit the 15 years landmark. This way longevity is recognized yearly. 2. Special Employee awards: Now, this may be difficult if your staff is very small, but acknowledge the employee who has gone the extra mile in the job they do. Tell the story. The employee needs to know when the employer is proud of the work that has been done. Consider a plaque or certificate. Don’t minimize the value of the employee having them to display. 3. Acknowledge all employees in the mix: Because we are a clinical industry, the administrative staff is often overlooked on day-to-day operations. Ultimately, don’t miss the chance to acknowledge the employee who was able to catch billing errors or collect on a large account. Staff doesn’t like to hear about money, but those types of collections keep Christmas bonuses in place! So, make sure the other staff knows the accomplishments of the finance department or the office manager that every caller loves to speak to. Don't ever forget the IT staff that is on call more than any clinical person in your agency! 4. Letters from the administration: Add a personal note to your staff either collectively or individually depending on the size of your agency. If you are larger, there are employees you don’t often see or get to talk to on a regular basis, so take the time so send a note with that Christmas bonus. 5. Consider the Christmas bonus: Listen, some of you can afford to do substantial monetary bonuses and that is fantastic. However, if you are not in that position, consider something in its place. Maybe small gas cards go with the letter from administration. With the cost of groceries, consider something that helps with the costs of daily living for employees. Big box gift cards in your area will always be used. You may do a lot of these things on a yearly basis to employees. All this being said, it doesn’t mean there aren’t reasons for acknowledgement throughout the year. However, your annual Christmas party is a good way to do it collectively. Between your annual party, write the individual cards to employees when you hear a patient interaction worthy of praise. Or, maybe you buy a gas card for the employee who has picked up extra shifts and always shows up on time. Ultimately, employees will feel valued. You will not regret the time, effort, and energy put into these efforts. Merry Christmas! If you want help with recruitment and retention strategies for your agency, please call Kenyon Homecare Consulting at 206-721-5091 or contact us online today.