A good place to start is with a backend technology solution. The best platforms offer built-in independent care model infrastructure that helps navigate specific challenges and mitigate risk. At the same time, using technology solutions can reduce operating costs and help match service capacity with patient needs.
Following are three ways technology-driven solutions can help you streamline both operational and compliance practices:
1. Prescreen Independent Caregivers
Posting vacancies on recruitment sites, manually reviewing each candidate, and evaluating qualifications is a cumbersome process that leaves many agencies struggling to move independent caregivers through this process and into the field. By implementing an automated prescreening process, organizations can leverage various compliance workflows according to certifications, locations, and a variety of other screening services to expedite the vetting process. This helps ensure that caregivers are compliant and qualified to provide services prior to allocating valued time and resources to move them to onboarding.
2. Navigate Negotiations
Treating independent caregivers as an extension of the agency rather than as a separate business entity can lead to costly compliance violations. Recording the negotiation process prevents exploitation of either entity and minimizes potential compliance issues. Leveraging software with an interactive negotiation platform provides a neutral landscape to digitally capture the negotiation interaction. If the negotiating parties establish a deal or contract using this type of solution, the agreement is documented with clearly established terms that are acceptable for each of the negotiating parties.
3. Establish an Audit Trail
Regulations, labor laws, litigation and audits are constantly in the media. As such, providers need to ensure the defensibility of their compliance strategies. Clear implementation of best practices and documentation of those practices are essential components to withstand regulatory scrutiny. Having a complete end-to-end audit trail tracking the entire independent caregiver interaction lifecycle can seem like an arduous process. But with caregiver management software, agencies can digitally track necessary interactions to provide supporting evidence of its compliance plan and limit vulnerabilities.
Overall, leveraging technology allows agencies to take a proactive approach. Additionally, implementing a tailored solution to ensure your best practices are consistently followed through custom-built workflows helps you work smarter, reduce risk, and streamline operations.
Download Mosaic Success Story
Read how a modern technology platform enabled Mosaic to migrate more than 600 host home independent caregivers across 36 agencies in 10 states into a new, automated system, allowing them to better respond, grow and succeed in home care.