Posted June 7, 2023
McKnight’s Home Care
By: Liza Berger
If you want to get a sense of the scale and scope of the workforce shortage across the home care continuum — home care, home health and hospice — check out the 14th edition of the Benchmarking Report from technology company HCP.
The latest 234-page version, which was released Thursday, offers the nuances of the crisis in all three sectors and throughout providers’ various business areas — from sales and marketing to recruitment and retention to finance and operations. Among the findings:
- Three-quarters of all providers had to turn down cases due to staffing challenges.
- Turnover spiked 12% in the last year, contributing to a 77.1% turnover rate.
- The caregiver shortage topped the list of five critical challenges facing home care providers and home health and hospice providers.
- Home health and hospice and home care far and away used Indeed.com as their preferred professional recruitment source/method for 2022.
- The top growth opportunity for both home care and home health and hospice in 2023 is recruitment and retention.
Among the takeaways of this comprehensive report besides the devastating impact of the short supply of caregivers? Providers are focusing more on recruiting and less on retaining employees, according to HCP Chief Marketing Officer Kristen Duell.
“Programs that improve retention, such as satisfaction surveys, robust training and applying for recognitions and certifications that show your commitment to your employees’ well-being will be the differentiators between those who struggle with staffing in the coming year and those who thrive,” she told McKnight’s Home Care Daily Pulse.
If the report findings strike you as bordering on the gloomy or downright depressing, take heart: It’s not all bad. For starters, what’s the saying about knowing your enemy? This report certainly has mapped the DNA of this workforce shortage.
Secondly, the leaders of this industry are taking proactive action.
The report provides letters of advice and encouragement from everyone from Kristen Wheeler, executive director of private duty for the National Association for Home Care & Hospice, to Vicki Hoak, CEO of the Home Care Association of America, to Stephen Tweed, CEO of Leading Home Care and Jensen Jones, CEO of Home Care CEO Forum.
It takes an organized military unit to destroy an opposing force. In the case of the workforce shortage, it’s safe to say the whole industry is armed and ready for battle.
About Corridor
For over 30 years, Corridor has partnered with home health and hospice providers, delivering powerful solutions to support the unique challenges of caring for patients in the home. Our team of operations executives, clinicians, and nationally renowned industry experts have run provider organizations and resolved the same challenges you face. Contact us today to learn how we can help you.
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