Step 1
Write your business
plan. Your plan should include an executive summary, market analysis including
industry outlook, a list of your employees and their skills and qualifications,
and a financial summary.
Step 2
Conduct market
research. Determine how many potential customers exist in your area and why
their needs aren’t currently met. Evaluate your competitors' business
strategies. Identify their strengths and weaknesses in providing home care in
your area. Use the resources provided by websites, such as the Plunkett
Research website, to identify trends in the home care business industry.
Step 3
Advertise your home
care services using print, Internet, radio or television advertising, depending
on your budget.
Step 4
Obtain the necessary
licenses to operate and receive reimbursement from Medicaid, Medicare or
private insurance. Some franchise business operations provide you with
extensive support about running a home care business. Use the resources
provided by the home care trade associations in your area
Step 5
Screen, hire, train
and insure your employees. For example, Medicare and Medicaid certified home
care agencies must meet federal requirements. Use the resources provided by the
U. S. Department of Health and Human Services website to ensure you and your
employees comply with all regulations, including working with the Centers for
Medicare and Medicaid Services, the Outcome and Assessment Data Set and the
Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996 privacy and
security rules.
Step 6
Use the resources
provided by the Department of Health and Human Services to help you improve
care provided by your home care business. For example, view a video to learn
about Process Based Quality Improvement. Quality measurement helps you improve
effectiveness, efficiency and equity, as well as understand patient needs,
safety concerns and the need to minimize delays.
Medicare
covers medical care for Alzheimer’s patients, but does not cover non-medical
custodial care, which is most of what adult day care provides. Medicare can
cover services from an adult day care center only in very limited circumstances.
It can cover actual mental health treatment – administration and monitoring of
medication, for example, or recovery from a medical crisis -- prescribed by a
physician, and provided at an outpatient mental health clinic. If this clinic
is also an adult day care center, the patient can get the benefit of the
center’s other care service while receiving treatment there.
ADULT DAY CARE CENTER - SAMPLE
RELATED SITE