By Stephen Tweed  

I’m writing to you today from the Delta Sky Club in Atlanta on my way to Baltimore, MD to lead a Strategic Focus session with a large private pay home care company that is affiliated with a home health agency and a large hospital system.  For the past two days I’ve been pouring over their data and comparing their results to industry benchmarks.

As I put together a slide deck to facilitate our assessment of their business, I put in the slide that you see to your right in this article.  It is one of my favorite quotes from W. Edwards Deming, the Guru of Quality in Japan and America after WWII.

“Without Data, You’re Just Another Person with an Opinion.”

How are you doing in your home care business?  How do you know?  How does your company’s performance compare to others in the home care industry?

In private pay in-home care, we are blessed to have some of the best data of any industry in which I have worked. That is thanks to the Home Care Association of America and Home Care Pulse.  They have teamed up over the past eight years to conduct an annual survey of home care companies and publish a Benchmarking Report.

Many of you have participated in this study in previous years, and have purchased a copy of the annual report.  Others may be new to this benchmarking process.

It’s January, and now is the time to get ready to participate.

The first step is to download the benchmarking preparation worksheet from Home Care Pulse.

The second step is to pull your company’s data together and fill out the worksheet.

The third step is to go online and enter your data.

The fourth step is to order a copy of the report, and use these industry benchmarks to guide your strategic planning, and to measure your agency’s performance during the year.

I spend 60 days a year on the road working with home health, hospice, and private duty home care companies across the US and Canada, and speaking at association conferences and corporate meetings. I never go anywhere without my copy of the benchmarking report.  I buy two copies … one for my desk and one for my computer bag.  There is no better source of data that the 2018 Home Care Benchmarking Report from Home Care Pulse.

Remember … “Without data, you are just another person with an opinion.”

Download the Preparation Worksheet Today;

Home Care pulse has just released the 2018 Benchmarking Study Worksheet. Go to the web site and download it right now.  Then start digging through your own data and filling out the worksheet.  Even if you don’t submit your data, it will be worth the time and effort to answer the questions on the worksheet. You’ll be amazed at what you learn about your business.

And since you’ve gone to the trouble to gather and analyze your own data, you might as well go online and submit the data. The more companies participate in the study, the more precise the data we will have available.

Order the Report

I am amazed at how far we have come in gathering and analyzing data about private pay in-home care.  We, at Leading Home Care, conducted the very first industry benchmarking studies in 2009 and 2010.  The first study looked at data from independents, franchises, and affiliated home care companies.  We learned so much that we did a special study of private pay home care companies that are affiliated with home health agencies in 2010.

When HCAOA and Home Care Pulse teamed up to do their first study, we decided to partner with them to support their study rather than having two different industry studies. That turned out to be a great decision, and we are delighted to endorse and support this benchmarking study.

Once you have submitted your data, you’ll get an invitation to order your copy of the report at a special price.  Don’t delay. Order your report and use it every day to measure your progress.

Remember my mantra:  “What gets measured gets managed, what gets reported gets repeated.”