PDT #149 - Caregiver/Client Matching Increases Profits

Make More Money by Choosing Caregivers Wisely                                  August 12, 2009

 

Private Duty Today

Jason Tweed, editor of Private Duty Today 

Welcome to Private Duty Today, the bi-weekly electronic newsletter for Private Duty Home Care Leaders from Leading Home Care ...a Tweed Jeffries company.

I'm Jason Tweed, Director of Business Development for Leading Home Care, and Editor of Private Duty Today. 

Private Duty Today is published every other Wednesday, and currently goes to over 7000 subscribers.

Private Duty Today is a permission-based newsletter.

 

 

Join Our Mailing List!

Your most profitable private pay clients will have several things in common.

  • Long term disability or infirmity
  • Means to pay
  • Low caregiver turnover
  • High utilization
  • Low maintenance and management

Quality caregiver/client matching can directly impact three of these five characteristics. Once you've identified the client as potentially long-term with a means of payment, much of your focus should be centered around matching that client with the most appropriate caregiver.

 

Several caregiver qualities are important to high profitability with these clients.

 

Dependability -- I always focus on dependability first. Regardless of how good the caregiver is, they aren't valuable if they don't show up. Take it from someone who depends on caregivers daily, I will always choose someone who is mediocre, but dependable, over someone who's well trained, but unavailable.

 

High Integrity -- When choosing caregivers, integrity matters. I get along better with people who give me bad news honestly than ones that tell me what I want to hear. You'll find your clients will stick with the caregiver who is honest even when problems arise.

 

Personality -- The best relationships I've had with caregivers are ones with solid personality matches. I spend a huge amount of time each week with these people. They become friends, and in some cases, practically family. Try to match people with similar levels of extroversion/introversion, age range, faith, family background and culture whenever possible. You don't need an exact match, but having a few things in common between your clients and caregivers helps cement relationships.

 

Cognitive Ability -- Many of your best clients also have a substantial level of need. Persons who need substantial assistance with activities of daily living require caregivers who can problem solve and be creative. It goes without saying that bright caregivers are better at their jobs, but this is particularly true with your most complex cases. Training is important, but pure cognitive ability often is more important to individual clients.

If you can identify people with these four characteristics and match them with long-term clients you will see higher levels of employee satisfaction and client satisfaction. Both of these things lead directly to higher utilization by the client. Furthermore, you will spend less time scheduling, problem solving and involved in case management.

 

Testing Caregivers for Dependability, Integrity, Extroversion and Cognitive Ability

You have two challenges when it comes to solid caregiver/client matching. First, you have to find great clients. Second, you have to identify great caregivers.

 

While great clients aren't common, they are fairly easy to identify. If they have the means to pay and substantial ADL requirements, this is a great potential client.

 

Great caregivers are more tricky. Previously the only way to determine caregiver dependability, integrity and intelligence was to put them to work and observe them fairly closely. Unfortunately this is time consuming, and sometimes downright dangerous. "Going with your gut" is called this because your stomach is the first thing to experience pain when you're wrong.

 

Today, however, personality and behavioral testing is available prior to hiring someone and putting them to work. There are ways to scientifically quantify dependability, integrity, cognitive ability and even personality. Applying this knowledge to your caregivers prior to hire and placement can be the difference between a profitable case and a failure.

 

 

How important is this?

Let me be very clear from a customer perspective. I use home care everyday and, literally, my life and lifestyle depend on the people who provide me with assistance. There is no decision I take less seriously than whom I welcome into my home.

 

If my home care company is unable to provide high quality caregivers, there is almost nothing the company can do to retain me as a client.

 

If my home care agency provides high-quality caregivers, there is almost nothing they can do to lose me as a client.

 

I purchase 52 1/2 hours of care weekly. I've purchased care continually since the age of 17. I have more than two decades of experience as a client, which is more than most of you have as a provider. I'm planning to continue using caregivers for the remainder of my life, and with the grace of God, that will be a very long time.

 

I'm your most important client. Send me your best, and you will be profitable. Send me anything less, and I will make your competitor profitable.

 

 

Take Action

The most important telephone call you will make this week is to Diane West in our office. Doing proper pre-employment assessments will save you time, make you money, create customer satisfaction and give you a clear strategic advantage in your marketplace.

 

Diane West will help you get started. You'll be able to test every caregiver applicant before they're hired and identify the best from day one. Most of your caregivers will be somewhere in between.

 

You'll be able to quantitatively differentiate yourself to your customers and referral sources.

 

Your most important call this week will be to 1-866-209-5101.