A home health agency offers professional services related to medical care or day to day caregiving at home. Patients who either cannot go to a hospital, or are experiencing prolonged illnesses that are being treated at home, can turn to home health care services. This ensures that they have access to the same level of care and attention that they would receive at a medical institution.
If you are thinking about starting your own home health agency, then you’ll first need to decide on the kind of agency you want to set up. A medical home health care business offers medic care and help to patients. Such care includes nursing care, tending to wounds and ailments, as well as offering round the clock monitoring. Patients who need their vitals to be constantly monitored, or those who are monitored for their mental health, can avail medical services from a home health agency. The other kind of home health agency focuses on supportive care over medical care. This includes preparing meals, driving the patient to places, helping them change etc.
How Can You Start Your Home Health Business?
Once you’ve decided upon the kind of home health agency you want to start, it’s time to create a business plan. When you’re choosing the right type of home health care agency for you to run, consider licenses and permits as well. A home health agency where medical services are offered may take longer to set up, owing to the need for medical licenses and permits.
1. Write A Business Plan
A business plan is a dossier that includes every key detail and relevant data about your business. The main sections in a business plan are:
- Executive Summary: A general overview of the business.
- Business Description: Why a home health care agency, and what you expect out of it.
- Services Offered: Whether medical or caregiving, or both.
- Marketing and Strategy: Should ideally include strategies both for online and offline marketing.
- Management: How you’ll structure management and organization in your business.
- Operational Plan: Day to day running of the business, as well as the potential for long-term growth. A good operational plan can keep you in the home health care business for a long time.
- Funding: A financial plan is an absolute necessity when it comes to any business. Most businesses need startup capital that can enable them to buy/rent office space, equipment, hire employees and more. Your financial plan should be such that it aims to boost profits and curtail losses.
2. Register Your Business
You will need to register your business with the state you’ll be basing your business out of, if you want to ensure that you receive Medicare and Medicaid payments. Alongside this, you’ll also need to meet all the requirements to set up a home health agency in your state.
Please remember that the requirements to start a home health agency can vary from state to state. Consider carefully checking your local county, as well as the state’s official website. You’ll need to choose a legal business structure for your business and register it with the state. You’ll also need to get a tax id, as well as register for a National Provider Identification or NPI.
3. Apply for Certificates for Medicare and Medicaid
The process of getting your home health agency accredited such that you can make use of the Medicare and Medicaid programs can take time. You can expect the process to take anywhere between a few months to a year.
Depending on the state your home health business is based out of, you may also have to sit for and clear a jurisprudence exam to meet this requirement as well.
4. Finding the Right Staff
Your staff will be the most important factor in deciding how successful your home health agency becomes. That’s why finding great healthcare workers that can provide appropriate care to patients at home is important.
Consider screening potential hires carefully, as well as doing background checks on them before hiring. This greatly limits the possibility of legal problems related to employees later on.
5. Market Your Home Health Agency
The only way to get clients for your business is by marketing your home health agency. Consider making use of social media marketing, and using social media business profiles to increase awareness about your business.
You can also turn to offline marketing, in the form of fliers, leaflets and more. Consider informing healthcare workers you know that you’re starting your own home health agency. That way, if they run into a patient looking for home care services, they can recommend your business.
Conclusion
A home health care agency can be a greatly successful business, especially in a country with a growing aging population like the US. Use these tips to start your very own home health agency today.
Aside from setting up your new business, you’ll also need to consider protecting it. You can do this by investing in the right Home Health business insurance policies. If you want to learn more about how business insurance can protect your home health agency, you can visit the BizInsure website.
