Stay ahead of the curve by integrating key software features optimized for Consumer Directed Services (CDS), positioning your agency for sustained success.
This blog talks about the six essential software features home care agencies should look for to support Consumer Directed Home-Based Services (CDS).
Overview
Consumer Directed Services (CDS) has been a growing part of the home care industry for a while. But, spurred on by the pandemic in 2020, CDS grew 23% between 2019 and 2023, with over 1.5 million people signed up for these services. It is still a growing sector within the home care industry. There are, however, some burgeoning challenges that are arising with the expansion of this sector.
Operationally, CDS has the potential to create inefficiencies. Since the hired caregiver is usually a friend or family of the patient, agencies do not schedule their services. This can create issues around timesheets, billing for Medicaid and Medicaid Waiver programs, and authorizations. Scheduling, billing, and payroll inefficiencies can quickly cause frustration for back-office staff, caregivers, and patients.
However, Home Care agencies may find that the benefits to CDS outweigh the challenges. Self-Directed Care allows patients to be more comfortable and more willing to receive personal care, increasing both patient and caregiver engagement. Amid industry-wide elevated caregiver turnover rates, CDS can incentivize caretakers to join the workforce via patient preference. This simplifies hiring efforts for home care agencies, who then don’t have to worry about attracting skilled caregivers. Furthermore, when the cost of care is covered by Medicaid and Medicaid Waiver programs, agency overhead costs are lowered, creating more growth opportunities and giving agencies both stability and a competitive edge.
Essential Software Features for CDS
Investing in the right Home Care Software for CDS can help home care agencies efficiently leverage the opportunities CDS presents. An integrated software platform that can manage CDS and other services like Private Duty Nursing, Non-Medical Personal Care, Home and Community Based Services (HCBS), Home Health, will help agencies manage Consumer Directed Home Care Services and grow the agency by expanding services in other areas.
Below are six essential software features home care agencies should look for to support Consumer Directed Home-Based Services:
1. ONE Software, ONE Patient, ONE Employee
The right Home Care Software for CDS should be able to manage all lines of service under ONE Software, ONE Patient Profile, and ONE Employee Profile. Being able to find all relevant information for a patient under one software will improve the efficiency of the caregiver, the back-office staff, and the agency. Using ONE software for all services will also improve the operational efficiency and the bottom line of the home care agency.
2. CDS Scheduling
With CDS, patients have the flexibility to hire their own caregivers and manage their own schedules. Managing schedules at the agency level poses many challenges for CDS services. Since agencies cannot schedule the caregivers themselves, Home Care Software should allow caregivers to clock in and out, and document services provided at the point of care without a schedule. Supervisors should also be able to monitor clock ins, clock outs, and care provided in real time even though schedules are not created in advance.
3. Authorization Alerts
Caregivers must stay within the limits of services authorized by Medicaid or Medicaid Waiver programs. Staying within the authorization will be a challenge when the schedules are not created in advance. The right Home Care Software for CDS should provide proactive alerts to the caregivers when services are provided outside of the authorized limits even though schedules are created at the point of care. These alerts will reduce payroll and billing discrepancies and improve caregiver satisfaction.
4. Integrated Electronic Visit Verification (EVV)
Home Care Software for CDS should be able to collect EVV data at the time services start and transfer them to state-approved EVV aggregators. Home Care Software with integrated EVV functions will help agencies to use ONE Software for all EVV aggregators for one or multiple states. This makes meeting the requirements of the 21st Century Cures Act efficient and makes billers’ jobs easier when creating claims.
5. Billing
Home Care Software should be able to handle disparate billing requirements for various CDS and HCBS services and payers. Home care agencies will need a configurable claims scrubber to meet the billing requirements of CDS and payers. This will help agencies to configure the claims to meet billing requirements of CDS programs, proactively check claims for errors before submission, send clean claims and improve cash flow.
6. Payroll
Patients act as their own employers for caregivers for CDS services posing many challenges for payroll. The right Home Care Software for CDS will be flexible to meet CDS payroll requirements and interface with payroll software or services to make accurate and timely payments.
Conclusion
As Consumer Directed Services (CDS) grow over time, more home care agencies will adopt it as they expand their services. Though there are some operational challenges with adopting CDS – or any new line of service, for that matter – investing in integrated Home Care Software can alleviate those challenges and make overall operations more efficient.
When searching for the right Home Care Software, agencies should consider a software that has all patient and employee information on ONE platform, can manage and monitor schedules in real time, and provides proactive alerts to caregivers to prevent unauthorized services. The right Home Care Software should also have integrated EVV, a configurable claims scrubber to send clean claims and validate before submission, and interface with payroll software for accurate and timely payments.
FAQs
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Consumer Directed Services (CDS) allow patients to hire and manage their own caregivers, typically friends or family, while receiving support through Medicaid or Medicaid Waiver programs.
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CDS has expanded due to increased patient demand for personalized care, spurred by the pandemic and its ability to address caregiver shortages by leveraging patient preferences.
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Agencies encounter inefficiencies in scheduling, billing, timesheet management, and payroll since they do not directly manage caregivers in CDS.
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Integrated home care software streamlines operations by providing unified patient and caregiver profiles, real-time scheduling management, billing tools, and payroll interfaces.
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Centralizing all service lines under one software improves operational efficiency, reduces errors, and enhances the overall experience for caregivers, patients, and back-office staff.
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CDS Scheduling allows caregivers to clock in and out and document care at the point of service without pre-established schedules, enabling flexibility for patients and caregivers.
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Authorization alerts notify caregivers when service limits are exceeded, preventing billing discrepancies and ensuring compliance with Medicaid program guidelines.
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Integrated EVV Software collects and transfers real-time care data to state-approved aggregators, ensuring compliance with the 21st Century Cures Act and simplifying claims processing.
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Advanced home care software offers configurable claims scrubbers to validate claims before submission and integrates with payroll systems for timely and accurate caregiver payments.
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Agencies should prioritize software with unified profiles, real-time monitoring, integrated EVV, proactive authorization alerts, flexible billing configurations, and payroll interfacing capabilities.
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.
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