A look at why factoring services for private duty care and home healthcare are dramatically different in this article from PRN Funding.
Home care recipients enjoy the many benefits of care in the comfort of their own homes. It’s easier for family members to be involved in the patient’s treatment and care, and being at home allows patients to minimize the stress of a sudden dramatic change in environment.
A practical and financially savvy solution to shifting population needs, home healthcare goes a long way toward improving a patient’s morale – and quality of life.
This national trend creates a path for another industry – private duty – to grow; and with it a need for funding.
The assisted living industry caters to a well-known need in the U.S.: the aging population in need of long-term care. Medicaid traditionally funds patients who receive care in an in-patient capacity. Assisted living holds a lot of appeal: patients can enjoy a range of services (such as nursing care, companionship, and physical therapy) that can easily be adjusted by staff as the patient’s needs change. Assisted living home residents are also typically privy to a rich social life.
Despite the benefits, this type of environment is not a good fit for a significant portion of the population. Many Americans don’t need or want such a high-level of care, nor do they want to suffer the inconvenience of leaving home for it. As expected, the cost of such care is prohibitive whether it is being paid for personally or through a third party funder.
Home healthcare offers a lower cost flexible solution that could keep this industry thriving for the foreseeable future.
This is where the private duty home care solution comes in: non-skilled at-home care (such as companionship, domestic care, and assistance with hygiene and the tasks of daily living) has always been available on some level.
Recent trends created a boom in this industry. The push toward home healthcare began with a reduction in funding for Medicaid and overall rise in health care costs, in part due to an aging population. In response, funding was made more flexible as assisted living Medicaid waiver programs were introduced, allowing patients to qualify for at-home care services lessening the strain on the healthcare budget and facilitating a migration from inpatient care. More patients receiving home healthcare also helps the private duty industry grow.
Although private duty care is often confused with home healthcare, the unskilled nature of the industry and the fact that Medicare does not cover private duty services makes factoring for these two types of services dramatically different.
The growing national need for more private duty caregivers is just the ‘tip of the iceberg’ as far as the increased demand for funding for these companies. As pioneers in the industry, private duty business owners are financially unsophisticated – they lack the skills necessary to manage cash flow.
Many of these businesses are undercapitalized; they lack sufficient cash flow to meet payroll and taxes. With weekly (if not daily) payroll and pressing tax obligations the pressure for immediate cash is severe. This coupled with the fact that their payers are, directly or indirectly, the government that often take anywhere from two weeks to three months to pay creates a desperate need for funding.
Home care deals, while they sound medical look and act like traditional commercial transactions, most resembling temporary staffing services. While the debtors are unique in that they are state, state agency or third party administrators, they generally have an abundance of high quality credit that can make a factor comfortable. The transactions have minimal and immaterial dilution. Work performed can often be verified with access to an on-line order and fulfillment site.
For a factor that has invested enough time and energy to understand the industry, private duty deals are a clean and easy way to make money. Sending your prospect to the right funder should yield you a lengthy stream of attractive commission payments.
Philip Cohen is the founder and president of PRN Funding, LLC, which is an extraordinarily focused niche player in the healthcare funding market place.
Through a process known as factoring, PRN Funding provides business owners who sell to medical providers with the financial resources needed to grow and effectively compete in the industry. With no minimums or fixed terms, PRN Funding provides staffing companies with flexible and immediate access to capital.
Excellent article!!
I am very involved in the total healthcare industry. Thanks for this info!