For Home Care, Do Not Underestimate the Importance of Collecting and Analyzing Data
“Data are just summaries of thousands of stories—tell a few of those stories to help make the data meaningful,” say authors Chip and Dan Heath.
On February 1, you can share your stories with the most comprehensive national study on the private duty home care industry, and you can do it all online. The 2015 Private Duty Benchmarking Study is one of the most important half hours you can spend all month. It happens annually, and for the past 6 years, Home Care Pulse has teamed up with the Home Care Association of America (HCAOA), crafting a thorough survey with the goal to help seniors across North America receive the very best care possible.
This year, the study has been shorted by 25 percent (now, it typically takes less than a half hour to complete), but boasts that it will provide even more data and benchmarks than years previous. That means less time filling it out, and more data provided.
This year, once you complete the survey, you’re thanked with more data. You’re able to download a regional report with the data on top referral sources, median number of caregiver employed/quit/terminated, net promoter score and caregiver engagement—all by your region.
The survey covers a range of topics including: specific figures about your business, direct care expenses (from caregiver wages to insurance to mileage to meals), sales and marketing expenses, operating expenses, legislative issues including Obamacare, caregiver shortages and growth opportunities.
My experience with the survey is that some questions are easier to answer than others. The trickier, more specific numbers questions may require a little research beforehand. You can also download a prep worksheet to help you prep your answers for the actual survey. Fill it out and refer to it the day you complete the online survey.
Any day in February, you can visit http://benchmarking.homecarepulse.com to take the online survey, which opens on February 1st and closes midnight, February 28th.
Share your story—your participation helps support the largest national study on the private duty home care industry. And once the survey results are out, you’ll get to sift through the data and discover new analytics that will help you expand your sturdy foundation and grow.
Prepare. Participate. Reap rewards from the data.