Blog

2020 is undeniably the year of survival and people associated with the home care industry are undoubtedly battling at the frontline.

Whilst many states have officially opened and allowing home care service providers to work in full capacity, many aspects require adequate attention.

It was quite tough for agencies to meet the surging demands of caregivers during the crisis and now when they must operate in full capacity, adequate planning is a must to meet the requirements.

Though states are now opened this does not mean that things are back to normal as they were before the pandemic. Agencies, caregivers, and clients need to understand the protocols and accept the new normal.

There are some small and medium-size home care agencies operating in the United States that faced hard times to survive in the market. They must understand the importance of this crucial time to re-establish their brand name by leaving no stone unturned in delivering the highest level of care.

Let’s have a look at common pitfalls every home care agency should evade in 2020.

Assigning Shifts to the Newcomers

Many home care agencies witnessed a surge in their caregiver churn rate amidst the pandemic. This resulted in mass hiring for remote patient monitoring and delivering basic care to the existing clients.

It was a great option, but agencies must rethink before they send newcomers into the field especially for their loyal clients requiring special care.

It’s crucial to ensure your caregivers are well-versed with the CDC’s guidelines to deliver care to clients that are suspected of having COVID or are infected. There is a huge difference in managing care remotely and meeting the exact requirements at the client’s residence.

Only a professionally trained professional with adequate experience must be assigned to the clients requiring special care during the pandemic. For instance, agencies should never compromise on delivering quality care to the Dementia/Alzheimer’s patients, which can be difficult to manage by the employees who are not experienced enough.

Not Staying Involved

While you may think that you are delivering the best care to your clients during the crisis, it’s crucial to stay involved. Clients’ feedback is undeniably a very important aspect that should not be ignored while you restore your services to full capacity.

Your clients may face some issues since a lot of things may have changed and so does the caregiver’s tasks. It’s crucial to ask your clients how they feel about their caregivers and pay close attention to their feedback.

Moreover, you must ensure your clients are doing well and are not facing any issues. If a client is not doing well and requests you to alter the services; don’t think twice!

This is isn’t the time to lose a loyal client just because you were not paying enough attention to their special requirements. Work with your team to prepare a custom care plan that can enhances the client experience and always ensures maximum safety.

Focussing Too Much on Single Factor

Everyone is aware of the current situation and it’s okay to be concerned about revenues, productivity, costs, and skills. However, agencies shouldn’t let their concern for a single factor overweigh the others.

Remember, you need to focus on all aspects without any compromise to help your business grow in the toughest times. If you’re just focussing on overcoming the financial loss during the lockdown, you will lose your loyal clients soon!

You must gradually navigate your business growth by ensuring that every client is satisfied with the quality of service, which will surely provide you good referrals.

If you’re planning to just increase your revenues in one go, you better rethink your overall market repute especially when there are exceptional market players who are ready to grab your clients.

Ignoring Caregivers’ Concerns

When we say the home care agency is on the frontline of the battle against the pandemic, it simply means we are talking about caregivers.

Skilled caregivers are undeniably an asset for a home care business, and one shouldn’t ignore their concerns. While many agencies have lost their highly skilled resources during the pandemic, agencies must understand the areas that increase the caregiver churn.

Here’s what you need to do to ensure:

Once your caregivers are satisfied, you need not worry about their productivity and client satisfaction.

Overlooking Caregiver Self-Development & Training

One of the most important aspects that can affect your agency’s overall performance in terms of revenues & quality care delivery is to ignore caregivers’ self-development & training.

The daily lifestyle and duties of a caregiver become their routine. Once they develop a certain set of daily habits, they become comfortable. Caregiving is a profession that requires continuous learning and as an agency, it is your responsibility to ensure quality training.

Caregivers’ development mostly depends on their ability to learn, which develops and makes them more competent & informed regarding home care best practices.

Apart from this, many caregivers prefer switching their job just because they doubt their professional growth as the agency is not offering any professional training.

You can organize a training session regarding adequate care delivery amidst the pandemic and focus on delivering care to the clients with Alzheimer’s or Dementia during COVID-19.

Make sure your caregivers are trained periodically to ensure they are maintaining the right pace and can help preserve your market repute.

Conclusion

Home care agencies should understand that this is the right time to enhance their business and one silly mistake could eventually hamper it.

Whether it is the clients or caregivers, agencies must pay closer attention to their concerns so as ensure they remain up & running while they begin to work in full capacity.