The coming changes to hospice in 2019 are going to be generally a good thing! However, the recent report from OIG casts some shadows on providers as more compliance and outside pressure will be applied to providers like you.
It will be essential that hospices rethink their operating model in order to shift resources from internal administrative positions to compliance and QA based positions. At the same time, providers need to keep a very watchful eye on overhead which will greatly eat into your profit should overhead not be managed. Overhead is one of those areas that can be a great strength or a hindrance to growth and profit.
For instance, with electronic medical records and some staff working remotely from home, do you really need a big office anymore? Would it be better when your lease comes around to scale down a little bit and work out of a more efficient space? As occupancy costs for a hospice can be high, the ability to control this expense reduces overhead and increases net income – profit.
Are your billing and accounting staff in house? Does outsourcing make sense for your hospice? Can QA be outsourced? These are all questions and solutions to allowing your hospice to grow and remain compliant without spending thousands of dollars and negatively impacting your profit margins.
Every hospice is different and being able to identify these differences reveals what makes a hospice who they are. But in some cases, changes need to be made that won’t affect the overall mission and atmosphere, but will decrease costs and increase profit.
If your hospice is curious as to changes that could provide benefits and cost savings, please contact us for a free analysis. Our only goal is to make sure you prosper and have the tools and information to do so!