2024 Home Health Trends – Continued Labor Shortage To Put a Strain on the Industry But Innovative Solutions Can Help

Now that we’ve looked at the causes and implications of the at-home workforce shortage, it’s time to see what can be done about it. Simply put, this is a multifaceted issue stemming from several interconnected factors. The main driver is the aging population increasing the demand for services, while the labor pool for caregivers and nurses isn’t growing at a pace to match. There is nothing that can be done about the increased demand for services due to our aging population, but other factors can be addressed. The physical and emotional toll of caregiving, historically low wages, and limited career advancement opportunities are all issues that can be tackled with both straightforward and innovative strategies. 

To address these challenges, the industry is taking multifaceted actions. The Bipartisan Policy Center has called for federal intervention to mitigate the crisis, emphasizing the need for improved wages, benefits, and career advancement opportunities to attract and retain workers. Proposals include increasing Medicaid reimbursement rates to enable higher pay for caregivers, offering tax credits to support family caregivers, and providing funding for training and certification programs.

One obvious strategy for addressing the direct care workforce shortage is increasing compensation and benefits to make the positions more appealing and competitive. According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, direct care workers earn the fifth-lowest average hourly wage among U.S. occupational groups. They also lack benefits like access to healthcare and retirement savings plans. As a result, there has been a push from policymakers to increase the wages of direct care workers on both the state and federal level. 

While increasing compensation is essential, it is not the end all be all to addressing the home health and home care workforce shortage. Addressing the mental and emotional toll and burnout associated with the job is also essential. That is something that providers aim to address this year. According to a recent study, a majority of surveyed healthcare executives said they intend to focus on the mental health and well-being of their employees in 2024. To do this, some organizations have tried to make employee benefit packages more appealing. Additionally, agencies can create a supportive work environment, offer flexible schedules, and provide mental health support to improve job satisfaction and retention.

Another way to address the workforce shortage is to turn to technology to alleviate the strain on human workers. While technology can never replace human interaction completely, it can eliminate repetitive tasks, make tracking patients and services easier, and supplement healthcare providers. By implementing telehealth services, remote monitoring, and automation for administrative tasks, providers can ensure that human caregivers are utilized more effectively and for the more complex aspects of care. This is one way that value-based payments can come into the mix. Payers can add in a VBP for the utilization of technology as part of a solution. One example of this is connecting patients with remote monitoring devices. This allows providers to keep tabs on clients, without needing to constantly be in the presence if an agency is facing a shortage.   

There’s also a growing focus on building a robust pipeline of healthcare workers. This involves not only expanding training and education programs but also creating awareness about the rewards and opportunities in caregiving careers. Partnerships between educational institutions, healthcare providers, and government agencies can facilitate this, offering pathways for individuals to enter and thrive in the home health and home care field. In home care specifically, this could be a chance to implement value-based payments, like they have with the Home Health VBP Program. If providers know there are set reimbursement rates and a federal program, they may be able to invest more thoroughly into recruiting and training workers.  

While the workforce shortage presents a significant challenge, a combination of policy reforms, industry innovation, and societal shifts in how caregiving is perceived and valued is essential to address the crisis. As value-based payments shift into the home care and home health industry, providers will also have an increased incentive to expand their workforce and increase worker training. With patient outcomes and satisfaction at the forefront of quality measures that determine compensation, agencies will need to take this seriously. The good news is that by working collaboratively, stakeholders can create a more sustainable, effective, and compassionate home health and home care workforce for the future.