Pt 2: COULD A THERAPY STAFFING COMPANY BE THE ANSWER YOU’VE BEEN LOOKING FOR? The PDGM Solution?

Every so often, Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, known as CMS, likes to throw all healthcare companies into a tizzy by making changes to the reimbursement system. Their attempt to “prepare” us for the changes inevitably ends up sending employers into a panic, which trickles down to the employees, usually in the form of lay offs and updates to productivity standards. So the latest changes to the reimbursement for home health services, called PDGM, had the same anxiety-inducing effect. It is a challenge to employers to navigate the new system while still providing quality care to clients and making enough profit to stay afloat.

It is not greedy for a company to want/need to make a profit. What is the point of owning a business if not to make a profit? Every time CMS makes these changes, it takes time to learn their system to A) be compliant B) be ethical C) be able to make a profit. This learning curve can take awhile. So there are a few problems employers face including, keeping full time staff busy and maintaining enough staff for a fluctuating census.

This year, many employers are having a hard time keeping their own full time staff busy. The result is either employees leaving for more work elsewhere or an employer needing to make the choice of laying off staff. Neither of these scenarios is desirable but may be a solution for the immediate problem. It can lead to a situation of not having enough staff in the event of a wave of referrals. Unfortunately, it is impossible to predict census. Of course we see trends according to the time of year, but Covid sure threw us for a loop on that one! The last thing an employer wants to do is turn away referrals because they do not have enough staff to provide quality care.

Use of a staffing company to provide contract therapists could ease the stress of the employer to have ample staff in the case of increased census. Getting a contract in place BEFORE the need is there assures processes being in place in order to accept every patient and keep those referral sources happy.