Overview

The demand for Home and Community-Based Services (HCBS) continues to grow due to the retirement of the baby boomers. US Census Bureau projects that the number of people over 65 will increase to 84 million by 2050, representing nearly 21% of the population. While the demand for home care is growing, the availability of caregivers to meet the need is declining, leading to an acute labor shortage. The number of available caregivers per elderly will go from 7 in 2021 to 3 in 2050.

The labor shortage will pose a significant challenge to the growth of the home care industry and its ability to provide quality and sufficient care to the elderly population.

“A national shortage of 151,000 caregivers will exist by 2030, and a 355,000 caregiver shortfall by 2040.”

— Global Coalition on Aging

Low wages and a demanding workload have contributed to the labor shortage. COVID-19 has exacerbated this trend.

The labor shortage will be an ongoing challenge to Home Care Agencies for the foreseeable future. Home Care Agencies will have to leverage technology and learn to do more with less to meet the demand for home-based services and continue to grow.

Factors for the labor shortage:

Many factors contribute to the labor shortage challenges in the home healthcare industry. The following are some of the critical factors.

Growing Elderly Population

Advanced medical technology and a healthier lifestyle have increased average life expectancy to over 78 years. Most of the elderly population want to be independent and age in place in their home. According to US Census Bureau, there will be 84 million people over 65 by 2050, while the population under 18 will be around 77 million. Growth in the elderly population has contributed to a decline in available caregivers per elderly. The demand for home care workers is growing faster than the availability of caregivers.

Low Wages

Pay has been one of the most significant barriers in attracting more home care workers, especially home health aides or personal care workers. The tight labor market and low wages have contributed to many home care workers leaving health care to become gig workers or warehouse workers.

Demanding Workload

Home Care Aides and Personal Care Workers usually take care of a person’s daily activities, such as giving baths, preparing meals, getting dressed, and doing things they cannot do by themselves. Providing care at a patient's home is demanding work that requires patience and empathy. With low wages, staying as a home care worker for a long time is challenging.

COVID-19

Many healthcare workers left for other opportunities even before the pandemic struck. COVID-19 has accelerated this trend and exacerbated the labor shortage in home care.

Solutions to meet the challenge:

The labor shortage will be a perennial problem for home care agencies for the foreseeable future. There is no silver bullet that will solve the labor shortage issue. Agencies will have to improve their process to do more with less with the help of technology and other creative solutions.

The following are some of the options agencies can consider to meet the challenges posed by labor shortages.

Wages

Many home care agencies are boosting salaries, benefits, and incentives to attract more workers. Some agencies are even offering signing bonuses to attract more workers. It is more complex than it sounds, considering the level of reimbursement from payers.

Training and Opportunities

Home care agencies can provide employees with additional training and learning opportunities. One of the reasons employees leave home care is the need for career growth opportunities. Providing opportunities to learn new skills will help agencies to retain their employees.

Appreciation and Recognition

It takes a particular type of individual and skills to be a home care worker. Successful home care workers need empathy, patience, willingness to help others, communication skills, etc. Recognizing their work in agency newsletters or during a company lunch will make them feel that their work is appreciated. Nominating selected caregivers for national awards and other recognitions will also help.

Policy Changes

Low reimbursement rate is the major challenge for home care agencies to improve pay rates for home care workers. State and federal governments must recognize this and increase home and community-based services funding instead of always looking to reduce reimbursement rates.

Technology

Technology can play a pivotal role in mitigating the challenges posed by the increasing demand for home care and the declining availability of home care workers. Remote Patient Monitoring and Personal Emergency Response Services can reduce the reliance on workers being present at patients' homes all the time.

An integrated software platform can optimize scheduling and clinical documentation and improve employees' productivity, leading to employee satisfaction and better work-life balance. Effective and integrated communication options with the agency management platform will also improve employee satisfaction and the opportunities to retain employees.

Conclusion

Even though there is no one solution to labor shortage issues, agencies can select approaches that will work for them. An integrated home care software platform will help improve the agency's operational efficiency and do more with less.

ABOUT CAREVOYANT

CareVoyant is a leading provider of cloud-based integrated enterprise-scale home health care software that can support all home-based services under ONE Software, ONE Patient, and ONE Employee, making it a Single System of Record. We support all home based services, including Home Care, Private Duty Nursing, Private Duty Non-Medical, Home and Community Based Services (HCBS), Home Health, Pediatric Home Care, and Outpatient Therapy at Home.

CareVoyant functions – Intake, Authorization Management, Scheduling, Clinical with Mobile options, eMAR/eTAR, Electronic Visit Verification (EVV), Billing/AR, Secure Messaging, Notification, Reporting, and Dashboards – streamline workflow, meet regulatory requirements, improve quality of care, optimize reimbursement, improve operational efficiency and agency bottom line.

For more information, please visit CareVoyant.com or call us at 1-888-463-6797.