There is a crisis in the United States.
Our workforce is severely depleted, and it is certainly being felt by those in the home care industry. Nurses are aging and replacements to this profession are not being filled at the rate of retirement.
A number of years ago, Axxess Founder and CEO John Olajide understood this trend was well on its way, leading him to create a solution: Axxess CARE.
Addressing the Home Health Staffing Crisis
Because there is an imbalance in supply and demand, organizations are turning away referrals and losing business. Axxess CARE is not a staffing agency, but rather a staffing platform, where home health organizations are finding qualified nurses, therapists and aides to fill their visits as needed.
The Axxess CARE application not only solves immediate staffing challenges, but is an entirely new way of satisfying patient care issues and improving star ratings.
Solving Home Health Staffing Operations
Some of the operational challenges solved through the use of Axxess CARE include:
- “Just In Time” Staffing Solution: When staff is needed, the organization simply posts the request to the Axxess CARE schedule and nurses available in the area of need respond.
- Low Utilization Payment Adjustments (LUPAs) Avoided: Missed visits are limited or non-existent for any organization using the Axxess CARE solution. Having “extra” staff available through the app allows the organization to cover vacations and days off, thus avoiding the missed visit challenge.
- Reduced Re-Hospitalizations: Since frequencies can be managed and outcomes can be met, re-hospitalizations decrease, with the patients’ individual plans of care met at all times.
- Timely Documentation: Because payment through the app is not delivered until notes are complete, many organizations report Axxess CARE clinicians return assessments and clinical progress notes much more timely than full-time staff.
- Keep Your Referrals: Having additional staff via the app allows the organization to keep every referral coming in.
- Reduced Contract Cost: Currently, home health companies can spend at least 50% more per visit when using nurses or therapists than when using contract staff. This additional cost can be avoided when using the Axxess app in securing staff.
- A Benefit for Current Staff: When the organization’s census drops, owners are often concerned about keeping full-time staff working. When staff can use the app to continue to earn the income they need, it becomes a huge benefit.
- Use Axxess CARE for Weekend Calls: One of the most difficult tasks in an organization is getting staff to accept weekend and evening calls. Having additional staff through the app can relieve that stressor.
- Emergency Visits: Last-minute clinical emergencies or on-call visits can be managed by using the app and securing conveniently-located professionals to fill those needs. The built-in clinician map allows the organization to locate clinicians in the geographical area of the patient in need.
- Opportunities to Meet Conditions of Participation (CoPs): User group meetings for all clinicians provide in-service time that is often difficult to achieve during busy schedules. This is one CoPs that is met with little to no effort on the part of the organization and clinician.
The future of healthcare is in the home. Home health organizations have to get creative and find new ways to improve operations in order to outlast this critical period. Use this checklist to evaluate whether your organization is ready to implement Axxess CARE.
