Family - Home Care At Work
HOME CARE AT WORK
Community VNA bicyclist turns out to be aide making her rounds
Some Tipton, Indiana, residents were startled last July when on three of the hottest days of the year, a woman in blue medical scrubs with a big nursing bag stating Community VNA churned past them pedaling a white bicycle.
Cindy Schihl, Home Health Aide with Community Visiting Nurse Association was determined that her patients were not going to go without her help after Schihl's ailing car was diagnosed with a cracked head.
"Without a vehicle, you just make do," she commented. "I found it didn't take that much more time going by bicycle and parking was certainly a lot easier."
She packed her bag, fixed a cup of ice water and took off to see the first of 10 in-town residents over the three-day period. Those three days in July were the hottest of this year with temperatures in the high 90s and the humidity nearly as bad.
Passersby stared at the woman in dark blue scrubs riding a bicycle in the hot temperatures but her patients were delighted as well as surprised. Several said it made them feel good and important to have Cindy care enough to make that extra effort for them.
Cindy began health care work after serving as a Medical Services Specialist (corpsman) with the Air Force International Guard. She entered home care in Jacksonville, Florida, because educational reimbursement was offered. The family moved from Florida to Canada but eventually settled in Indiana.
She was enrolled and accepted at Indiana University-Kokomo's School of Nursing. With 18 months to finish, she plans on continuing work with Community VNA as a nurse, get her bachelor's degree in nursing and continue another two years to become a physician assistant. Cindy eventually plans to go into international nursing where she would work with an agency supplying short-term staffing where there is a need.
If dedication was all that was needed, she would already be there.
Article by Jan Conners
Community Visiting Nurse Association
1354 South B Street
P.O. Box 7
Elwood, IN 46036
765/552-3393
1-800-404-4852
Defining Private-Pay Services
Private pay services are an exciting twist to the laborious, confusing and increasingly regulated Medicare business. What are private pay services? Traditionally, they can include personalized care services; more specifically, activities of daily living services involving personal care for the geriatric or disabled population.
The first hurdle in understanding private pay services is to define "private pay" and "out-of-pocket/self pay" by the consumer. Both terms can have different meanings and tend to cause confusion even among home health care professionals. In today's market, the term "private pay" could be described as out-of-pocket/self pay expenses paid by the consumer. The easiest way to define the "private pay" is to determine the types of services performed and who is ultimately responsible for payment. Some agencies consider insurance work as "private pay," but for our purpose we will define the "out-of-pocket/self pay" services only.
Home care agencies that only offer "out-of-pocket/self pay" services appear to be scarce, but the future for this opportunity does exist as the need for home care rises. These services many include housekeepers, companion/sitters, nurses, aides, therapists, medical social workers, attendants, and personal emergency response systems.
Why would a home care agency choose to grow a business by offering "private pay" services? Given the increasing competition, home care organizations that cannot compete effectively in an ever changing market will probably not survive. Most agencies struggle with differentiating their agency. One way to gain the competitive edge is to offer "private pay" services, almost a niche market. Instead of trying to serve the Medicare and Medicaid populations only, "private pay" agencies choose to compete for dollars in a different arena. To compete, agencies need to assess their current position in the market by defining their strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats. Success is then defined by offering services that match the needs of the market with the agency's mission and ability to provide.
Currently, very few agencies only offer "private pay" services. Most home care agencies offer a mixture of government reimbursed services and services that are "private pay/self paid" by the consumer.
Technically, Area Agencies could be considered "private pay" consumers. With funding sources like CHOICE, SSBG and Medicare Waiver, the local Area Agency becomes the consumer and has a voice in determining which home care agency (vendor) will get their business. this leaves the homecare agencies vying for dollars if there is no closed-end contract with the Area Agency.
What is the potential for "private pay" business in Indiana? A number of factors will determine whether offering assisted living services would be profitable for your agency. These factors may include: Income of elders in service area, existing competition, expected population growth of elderly in your service area, and staff availability. The market for assisted living services paid by the consumer is anticipated to grow along with the growth of managed care. Frank Bonetti, president of SoCal Home Health Care in Newport Beach, California Inc. says, "There are 786 million people out there called baby boomers or the sandwich generation. There will be a run on these services and government won't pay." It appears that the demand for "out-of-pocket/self pay" services will be booming. Will your agency be a player in this market?
Community VNA bicyclist turns out to be aide making her rounds
Some Tipton, Indiana, residents were startled last July when on three of the hottest days of the year, a woman in blue medical scrubs with a big nursing bag stating Community VNA churned past them pedaling a white bicycle.
Cindy Schihl, Home Health Aide with Community Visiting Nurse Association was determined that her patients were not going to go without her help after Schihl's ailing car was diagnosed with a cracked head.
"Without a vehicle, you just make do," she commented. "I found it didn't take that much more time going by bicycle and parking was certainly a lot easier."
She packed her bag, fixed a cup of ice water and took off to see the first of 10 in-town residents over the three-day period. Those three days in July were the hottest of this year with temperatures in the high 90s and the humidity nearly as bad.
Passersby stared at the woman in dark blue scrubs riding a bicycle in the hot temperatures but her patients were delighted as well as surprised. Several said it made them feel good and important to have Cindy care enough to make that extra effort for them.
Cindy began health care work after serving as a Medical Services Specialist (corpsman) with the Air Force International Guard. She entered home care in Jacksonville, Florida, because educational reimbursement was offered. The family moved from Florida to Canada but eventually settled in Indiana.
She was enrolled and accepted at Indiana University-Kokomo's School of Nursing. With 18 months to finish, she plans on continuing work with Community VNA as a nurse, get her bachelor's degree in nursing and continue another two years to become a physician assistant. Cindy eventually plans to go into international nursing where she would work with an agency supplying short-term staffing where there is a need.
If dedication was all that was needed, she would already be there.
Article by Jan Conners
Community Visiting Nurse Association
1354 South B Street
P.O. Box 7
Elwood, IN 46036
765/552-3393
1-800-404-4852
Defining Private-Pay Services
Private pay services are an exciting twist to the laborious, confusing and increasingly regulated Medicare business. What are private pay services? Traditionally, they can include personalized care services; more specifically, activities of daily living services involving personal care for the geriatric or disabled population.
The first hurdle in understanding private pay services is to define "private pay" and "out-of-pocket/self pay" by the consumer. Both terms can have different meanings and tend to cause confusion even among home health care professionals. In today's market, the term "private pay" could be described as out-of-pocket/self pay expenses paid by the consumer. The easiest way to define the "private pay" is to determine the types of services performed and who is ultimately responsible for payment. Some agencies consider insurance work as "private pay," but for our purpose we will define the "out-of-pocket/self pay" services only.
Home care agencies that only offer "out-of-pocket/self pay" services appear to be scarce, but the future for this opportunity does exist as the need for home care rises. These services many include housekeepers, companion/sitters, nurses, aides, therapists, medical social workers, attendants, and personal emergency response systems.
Why would a home care agency choose to grow a business by offering "private pay" services? Given the increasing competition, home care organizations that cannot compete effectively in an ever changing market will probably not survive. Most agencies struggle with differentiating their agency. One way to gain the competitive edge is to offer "private pay" services, almost a niche market. Instead of trying to serve the Medicare and Medicaid populations only, "private pay" agencies choose to compete for dollars in a different arena. To compete, agencies need to assess their current position in the market by defining their strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats. Success is then defined by offering services that match the needs of the market with the agency's mission and ability to provide.
Currently, very few agencies only offer "private pay" services. Most home care agencies offer a mixture of government reimbursed services and services that are "private pay/self paid" by the consumer.
Technically, Area Agencies could be considered "private pay" consumers. With funding sources like CHOICE, SSBG and Medicare Waiver, the local Area Agency becomes the consumer and has a voice in determining which home care agency (vendor) will get their business. this leaves the homecare agencies vying for dollars if there is no closed-end contract with the Area Agency.
What is the potential for "private pay" business in Indiana? A number of factors will determine whether offering assisted living services would be profitable for your agency. These factors may include: Income of elders in service area, existing competition, expected population growth of elderly in your service area, and staff availability. The market for assisted living services paid by the consumer is anticipated to grow along with the growth of managed care. Frank Bonetti, president of SoCal Home Health Care in Newport Beach, California Inc. says, "There are 786 million people out there called baby boomers or the sandwich generation. There will be a run on these services and government won't pay." It appears that the demand for "out-of-pocket/self pay" services will be booming. Will your agency be a player in this market?