Tighter profit margins are eclipsing room for error in home health and hospice, ramping up the need for agencies to make smarter, more strategic decisions.
With Value-Based Purchasing on the horizon for next year, the pressure to perform at peak levels in 2022 is greater than ever.
We’ve compiled 5 smart strategies for 2022 to help your agency boost its performance.
1. Up Your Game with the Right Data.
Does it sometimes feel like a crystal ball is needed for decision-making in today’s fluid, rapidly evolving market?
Knowledge is success in our industry. Staying on top of trends, understanding what’s driving revenue, recognizing potential opportunities, and identifying problems quickly are requisite for sound decision-making.
SimiTree offers the industry’s leading analytic and decision-making tool. The SimiTree Financial Monitor is an in-depth financial report available by subscription for home health and hospice agencies. The report provides subscribers real-time benchmarking data and PDGM performance data in quarterly increments so they can understand what’s impacting their profitability.
Contact us here for more information.
2. Schedule a Profitability Assessment.
Lift the hood on your agency’s operations to see how well things are running and where a tune-up may be needed for maximum profitability.
SimiTree’s financial experts offer full profitability analyses to evaluate an agency’s revenue cycle, recommend best practice processes and models to create cost efficiencies and revenue enhancements.
Our operational consultants assess structure, workflow, staffing, service delivery, help agencies optimize technology and more.
Reach out to us here to learn more about our financial and operational consulting.
3. Prepare for VBP.
The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) has pushed back the nationwide implementation of Value-Based Purchasing to 2023, which will be the first performance year for home health agencies. Performance data from 2023 will determine payment adjustments in 2025.
SimiTree consultants say it’s crucial for home health providers to use the next 12 months to address their performance scores in areas which will count in 2023.
With a full VBP consulting team ready to help, SimiTree can work with agencies to develop a personalized plan for improvement, including staff education and management or assistance with using the agency QAPI program to improve outcomes.
Reach out to us here to ask about our VBP services.
4. Explore What You Have to Gain with Outsourcing.
Whether it’s billing and collections, data monitoring and reporting for your agency’s QAPI program, cost reporting or other services, 2022 is the year to scrutinize your time-consuming back office tasks and determine whether outsourcing is a more cost-effective option.
SimiTree offers a robust array of crucial services. From coding and OASIS review services to full revenue cycle management, our experts provide the skill, knowledge and experience for compliance, efficiency and profitability – becoming a valued extension of your team to help accelerate cash flow.
Learn more by contacting us here.
5. Get the Industry Insight & Analysis You Need.
This year, SimiTree’s experts are sharing their industry insight in timely and informative articles exploring our industry’s most pertinent issues.
The SimiTree Insider launched in January with an in-depth look at industry staffing shortages, the rising cost of skilled nursing, and complicated cross-over care periods under Medicare’s new Notice of Admission. SimitTree Principal Rob Simione weighed in on the gross margin outlook for early 2022 and Senior Manager Maureen Kelleher shared information about nine important hospice changes.
We’re working now on more informative analysis for the February issue, including a look at Medicare Advantage revenue and advice for best managing MA contracts.
To be an Insider, sign up here.