HHA Rejection Rates on the Rise

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Caretaker assisting senior man with walker

What’s the Cause?

It’s very difficult and time consuming to find, train, and retain skilled clinicians. Employers must go through extensive job searches and training protocols, and even then, there is still a large learning curve (especially if the new hire has no experience in home health).

The Great Resignation was not friendly to the healthcare industry either, as one in every five healthcare workers left their jobs. With a job that’s already difficult to hire and train for coupled with healthcare workers leaving the industry in droves, it has created the perfect, yet unwanted, storm of difficulty for HHAs.

Why It’s Important

This ‘perfect’ storm has forced HHAs to continue to say “no” to taking on new patients. A recent study analyzed the referrals and acceptance rates of 690 home health agencies and 136 health systems.

May of 2020
Avg. Referrals per Month – 50
Acceptance Rate – 51%

July 2020
Avg. Referrals per Month – 67
Acceptance Rate – 47%

June of 2021
Avg. Referrals per Month – 84
Acceptance Rate – 36%

As you can see, the exponential increase in demand in such a short amount of time was very difficult to keep up with for HHAs. This left many patients in need of treatment to be initially turned away.

How to Adapt

There are several solutions HHAs can implement to avoid saying “no” to new patients.

  1. Upgrade Referral System

Many referral systems are outdated and not equipped to handle the necessary volume of referrals or therapists. As you’ve learned, the industry has drastically changed, it’s time for HHAs’ internal operations to match that.

  1. Outsourcing

When you’re fighting against the great resignation and the unpredictable nature of our industry over the last few years, it’s inevitable that you will have visits assigned and no therapists to work them. Outsourcing provides a solid solution for HHAs struggling with staffing shortages or those having difficulty finding quality therapists.

Here at Snap Health, our Online Referral System provides the best of both worlds. HHAs can use the online system to submit referrals to their own team of therapists, use the system to access Snap Health’s team of therapists, or both!

We have hundreds of therapists ready to accept visits right here in Texas. Contact us today to schedule a demo so you can see for yourself how we’ll help you reduce your rejection rates.

Stop saying “no” to new patients. Say “Yes” to Snap Health!