Why Caregivers Are Decreasing but Home Care Clients Are Increasing

It’s no secret that the home health care industry is changing. One of those changes we’re seeing is the increase of home care clients and the simultaneous decrease of available caregivers. At Direct Care Innovations, we do our best to support the home health care industry by providing valuable management software solutions that will improve patient care, making the lives of direct service providers (DSPs) easier. Let’s take a look at why caregiver turnover is high and how to mitigate this problem with ever-growing home health care clientele.

Caregiver Turnover Rates

In recent years, caregiver turnover rates have been at an all-time high. Some rates are higher than others in different locations, mostly due to the varied regulations and legislation in each state since the arrival of COVID-19. A few states have attempted to decrease staff turnover by investing more funds into home- and community-based services (HCBS). This seems to be working as DSP retention is higher in states that have applied these types of strategies.

Home Care Clients Growing

This rate of turnover would not be as much of a problem if it weren’t for the growing rate of new home health care clients. As the availability of DSPs decreased, the number of clients who needed to be serviced increased. Many home health care agencies are fulfilling the health care needs of their new clients, but are doing so with fewer available caregivers. 

What Can Be Done

Not much can be done to lower the increasing rate of new health care clients. Senior citizens, the chronically ill, and those living with an IDD (Intellectual and Developmental Disability) will always need compassionate and effective care from their caregivers. However, there are solutions that can increase the number of DSPs in the home health care industry, including the following:

• Supplement caregivers with telehealth services.
• Increase wages and benefits for DSPs.
• Utilize government funding for hiring new caregivers.
• Provide valuable training to properly equip DSPs.
• Hire caregivers through word-of-mouth leads, rather than using expensive job boards.

State-of-the-Art Software for Caregiving Agencies

With our all-in-one health care management software, Direct Care Innovations provides all you need to seamlessly run every aspect of your business. We offer payroll time and attendance, electronic visit verification, real-time reporting, and several other modules for health care agencies in all 50 states. Call us at (480) 295-3307 for more information or to request a sales demo today.

Source: Donlan, Andrew. “Home Care Industry Sees Client Growth Rate Spike, Caregiver Growth Rate Drop.” Web article. Home Health Care News. Aging Media Network, 02 May. 2022. Web. 02 June. 2022.