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Discover the 4 benefits of using a visit optimization tool for home care agencies
Delivering exceptional home care services requires competent caregivers with appropriate abilities to fill vacant visits; this process of finding the right fit can be time-consuming and inefficient with challenges in:
- Inconsistent scheduling hours: Varied hours causes employee dissatisfaction, at times lower or inconsistent wages, and inhibit scheduling flexibility.
- Lag between hire date and first scheduling: Due to administrative processes or poor management, employees may experience a prolonged lapse of work when first hired, which may also result in tenured employees being overworked and patients having to wait for visits to be scheduled.
- Employee turnover costs: US home health care agencies report about 64% turnover, with over $4500 in costs to replace an employee.
As the demand for in-home care services surges, so do these challenges and one of the biggest hurdles is the delay in assigning qualified caregivers to their client visits – smarter scheduling strategies, like scheduling optimization tools, can help agencies steer through these challenges.
Optimization tools streamline scheduling, making it efficient and hassle-free.
By leveraging optimization tools powered by advanced algorithms, scheduling no longer needs to be a tedious and inefficient process. These tools are able to analyze data from multiple sources, spot patterns, and suggest optimal schedules that are tailored to the specific needs of the caregiver and the client. This eliminates the need for manual calculations and makes it easy for back-office staff to quickly review and adjust schedules with just a few clicks helping to reduce costs by matching caregivers with open slots automatically, while also optimizing commute time and maximizing the utilization of vital resources.
Here are 4 improvements home care agencies can experience after adopting a visit scheduling optimization tool:
1) Improve efficiency in scheduling:
Today’s fast-paced world demands smart time management which is why optimization solutions have become vital for home care organizations seeking to overcome scheduling complexities and reduce the amount of time it takes to manually fill a vacant visit. By using optimization tools to streamline scheduling, managing workloads efficiently has become more achievable than ever before; caregiver productivity is maximized, and the burden of scheduling is reduced as vacant visit scheduling processes take mere minutes instead of hours.
AlayaCare’s Visit Optimizer feature significantly outperforms the baseline workflow for schedulers, allowing them to search, route, and assign matches in bulk at speeds unheard of before. Our customers’, who beta-tested the feature, results speak for themselves:
- One agency reported a dramatic reduction from 17 minutes to 3 minutes when suggesting results for 25 vacant visits.
- Another agency reported that a projection of landing on schedules for 30 visits for 5 caregivers was reduced from 2-5 hours to just 3 minutes.
- Another agency also found that a projection of landing on suggestions for 60 visits took only 10 minutes instead of the expected 2-5 hour period.
2) Increase data quality:
With manual vacant visit fulfillment, there is a greater chance of human errors and missed information, which translates to poor data quality in the long run. A lot of organizations rely on high-quality client data to help improve workflows and processes within their operations and as they continue to grow and handle larger amounts of data, the need for smarter systems becomes crucial. Thankfully, scheduling optimization solutions have paved a new path for businesses, providing them with improved data quality with greater accuracy by collecting accurate real-time client data and replacing error-prone manual processes.
Achieve up to 35% improvement in data quality with AlayaCare’s Visit Optimizer’s Missing Data Dashboard and Maintenance tools which can help an organization improve data quality on employee profiles, service codes, departments, client profiles and availabilities. This feature ensures that all relevant information is accurately stored in a secure system, making it easier for staff to access the data when needed. What’s more, this technology enables organizations to maintain near-perfect schedules with accurate and up-to-date data records – something that could have taken many hours of manual labor in the past. It is clear that optimization tools are revolutionizing traditional scheduling processes by increasing efficiency and ensuring high-quality data storage.
“When you have a day when you feel like you’ve contacted everybody you can, we still rely on the Visit Optimizer to help us in case we forgot something or if someone’s schedule has opened up. This has been very helpful.”
Director of Market Operations from one of our top 5 Home Care agencies in the US
3) Improve the rate of vacant visit fulfillment:
The process of finding the right fit for a vacant visit can be tedious and inefficient when done manually. With optimization tools, vacant visit fulfillment can be done not only faster but more efficiently to make sure the client is paired with the right caregiver. These tools analyze data from various sources such as client and caregiver availability, location, and scheduling, and the advanced algorithms predict potential gaps in coverage and alert caregivers or coordinators of available visits.
By helping to match the right caregiver to the client, it minimizes the risk of cancellations or rescheduling caused by incompatible personalities or skill sets. The advanced algorithms can also help caregivers navigate traffic, optimize GPS directions, and coordinate transportation, ensuring prompt arrival and departure while maximizing care quality.
AlayaCare’s Visit Optimizer feature empowers home care providers with the tools they need to efficiently fill more visits in fact, the data speaks for itself; One of our beta testing home care agencies has reported a dramatic improvement in visit fulfillment rates, with the Visit Optimizer consistently outperforming manual scheduling methods. They found that their scheduler’s minimum fulfillment rate for visits was only 15% compared to the Visit Optimizer’s minimum rate of 50%.
The Visit Optimizer works by leveraging sophisticated predictive algorithms to identify unfulfilled visits, then suggesting the best available caregiver fill them based on a variety of criteria. This innovative approach to scheduling helps home care providers ensure that all clients receive the high-quality care they deserve while maximizing revenue.
“The optimizer has been a helpful aid when it comes to negotiating with staff. I’m able to quickly send them a shift offer, and when I can inform staff that the visit is in close proximity, they are more likely to accept and fill the vacant visit. Additionally, if I can tell them that it fits right within their schedule or it’s only 5 minutes from their last client, it makes the negotiation very easy.”
Care Coordinator at one of our top 5 home care agencies in the US
4) Enhance caregiver and staff satisfaction:
Caregivers and coordination staff are always the ones to suffer the burdens of inefficient scheduling and challenges to vacant visit fulfillment. Some of the biggest complaints from staff are commute times, repetitive administrative tasks taking up most of the day, and finding the right caregiver to pair with the client for a visit. According to a survey report on caregiver recruitment and retention, lack of hours/inconsistent hours and commuting or travel involved are within the top 3 causes of caregiver turnover.
Optimization software can boost caregiver and staff satisfaction by lifting these burdens off their shoulders. Some of the benefits include:
- Minimizing travel time and wait times for clients through optimized routes, caregivers can devote more time to providing high-quality care to their patients.
- Alleviating the workload for administrative staff, leading to enhanced efficiency and a balanced workload for all care providers.
- Minimizing the time between the date of hire and the first scheduled visit for new care providers.
- Eliminating the risk of human bias in scheduling and ensures that the best matches are made based on the caregiver’s skillsets.
“We were unable to get our staff to respond to offers. However, with the help of the visits optimizer, it has become a lot easier to identify staff who are closer to the visit location. This makes it easier for me to book visits with staff members whom I had not previously considered. I really appreciate the fact that the visit optimizer also provides visualizations of the travel time for staff.”
Care Coordinator at one of our top 5 home care agencies in the US
Say goodbye to scheduling inefficiencies, low data quality, and vacant visit rates. Instead, experience incredible improvements to care outcomes and employee satisfaction by leveraging optimization tools and revolutionizing your home care organization with artificial intelligence and AlayaCare’s Visit Optimizer.
Ready to revolutionize your scheduling? Check out our blog, Meet Visit Optimizer: AlayaCare’s new solution for scheduling vacant visits to discover all the amazing benefits.
Plus, watch our on-demand webinar for an exciting live-platform tour of this innovative new feature. Get ahead of the curve and optimize your visits with ease – all with AlayaCare.
