The home care service industry serves a crucial role in the world of healthcare. It’s also highly lucrative, with the market currently valued at around $90 billion and likely to rise to $156 billion by 2030. So, as you can see, it’s a thriving industry. However, it’s also a busy and competitive niche, with the added dilemma of a shortage of staff. Business owners of home care services, therefore, need to tackle these problems effectively. And one of the best ways to do this is with a home care virtual assistant.
The Power of Virtual Assistants
You may not be familiar with the concept of a home care virtual assistant, but it’s one you need to get acquainted with if you want your home care service to succeed. They’re part of an exciting new revolution in staffing solutions: virtual assistants.
First coming to prominence in the early 2010s, virtual assistants have proved popular with businesses all over the world in almost every industry – the role of a healthcare virtual assistant is in particularly high demand. Their first major headlines came, as you would expect, during the pandemic, when remote working became the norm for many employees. And its impact has been long lasting, with remote work remaining a major benefit for businesses and employees.
Prior to this period, the reality of a virtual assistant was difficult to imagine. Broadband internet was in place, but the speed and bandwidths on offer meant processing large amounts of data was difficult. Thankfully, the rapid advancement of internet technology has provided powerful internet connections which, as well as being reliable, allow significant data to be processed in milliseconds. Videoconferencing and audio calls, through VoIP services, are now crystal clear and even the biggest files can be accessed in next to no time.
These foundations offer virtual assistants the opportunity to work remotely. All they need is a PC and a high-speed internet connection. Once a client provides a virtual assistant with a set of login credentials, they can connect directly to their IT infrastructure. From here they can access databases, applications, phone systems, and emails. It’s as if they’re sitting in your office, but with no need for a commute or taking up any space.
What are the Benefits of a Virtual Assistant?
If you feel that taking on a virtual healthcare assistant or a home care virtual assistant, could help your business, you may be wondering what the benefits on offer are. After all, you’ve no doubt relied on traditional in-house assistants before. So, why would you want to change things? The good news is there’s an amazing range of benefits associated with virtual assistants:
Cost Savings:
The most attractive benefit of a virtual assistant for businesses are the cost savings on offer. Virtual assistants are cost-effective solutions and, in total, they could save your business up to 78% in operating costs every year. These savings manifest themselves in the following ways: virtual assistants provide all their own equipment, there’s no need for employers to fund vacation or sickness pay, and you make physical space savings in your business.
Enhanced Productivity:
Virtual assistants relieve businesses of their administrative backlog and ensure in-house staff can focus on their core tasks. Business owners, freed from less impactful administrative tasks, can suddenly start concentrating on making major decisions. This boosts productivity and ensures high-priority tasks are completed.
24/7 Cover:
Many virtual assistants are based in different time-zones, and this makes covering unsociable shifts – such as evening duties – much easier for business owners. For example, a home care virtual assistant based in the Philippines can be up to 12 hours ahead of their US counterpart, this means that a US evening shift for them becomes a day shift. This allows your business to operate 24/7 with ease and provides your clients with support when needed.
Access to Diverse Talent:
Relying on local labor limits the talent available to your organization. However, once you start taking advantage of the global talent on offer, you open yourself up to a stronger workforce. Additionally, virtual assistants are available in a wide range of roles such as healthcare virtual assistant, virtual receptionist, and virtual scribe.
The Role of a Home Care Virtual Assistant
You now know two things about a home care virtual assistant: they’re exciting and packed full of benefits. Now you need to find out what they can do for your business.
A home care virtual assistant works remotely for your home care service and provides support and assistance to your team. Fully capable of accessing your IT systems, with no need to commute to your workplace, they have the communication tools and technology to complete a wide range of tasks. Their responsibilities are numerous and can include:
Appointment Scheduling:
For a patient, a medical appointment is incredibly important in terms of improving their health. However, appointment scheduling can be a complex process and there are numerous barriers in the way. Improving this process even slightly, therefore, can make a big difference. A home care virtual assistant can help your business achieve this by taking control of your appointment schedule, contacting patients to arrange the best times to attend, and issuing appointment letters along with reminder SMS and emails.
Co-ordinating Care Services:
Home care for patients rarely relies on just one healthcare service, with multiple services often involved. All of these services need to be in constant communication to produce the best results for the patient.For home care staff, though, this can be tricky due to their existing workload. But bring in a home care virtual assistant and they can take control of this co-ordination. They can make sure all the services involved in a patient’s care are on the same page, and seamless communication can be established.
Client Communication:
Home care patients, particularly the elderly, can feel isolated, and this is why regular client communication is crucial. Updates on treatment plans and upcoming appointments, for example, can easily be communicated to a patient through a home care virtual assistant thanks to their communication skills. Likewise, a home care virtual assistant can also establish communication between family members and health professionals to provide updates and strengthen relationships.
Invoicing and Billing:
Everyone knows medical billing is a complex art, and home care services are no different when it comes to invoicing. Rather than compromising the valuable time of your healthcare professionals, the sensible move is to delegate this task to a home care virtual assistant. Fully trained in best medical coding practices and managing patient information, a home care virtual assistant can deliver accurate billing and assist patients with any billing queries.
Prevent Burnout:
The healthcare industry is facing a mental health crisis among its staff, and this strikes a negative impact at the heart of patient care. Accordingly, home care services need to reduce these levels of burnout. Many home care professionals are overloaded with duties, but many of these can easily be delegated to a home care virtual assistant e.g. managing a healthcare worker’s appointment schedule or formulating letters to patients.
Health Record Management:
Data is crucial when it comes to patient care, so it’s vital that patient data is carefully managed. Inputting and maintaining this data can be time consuming, and quickly eat into your healthcare professionals’ valuable time. Luckily, this is where a home care virtual assistant can demonstrate their value. With a dedication to accuracy, they can update electronic medical records, navigate online patient portals, and ensure test results are inputted correctly.
The Time to Employ a Home Care Virtual Assistant is Now
If you want to transform your home care service and enhance the experience of your clients, a home care virtual assistant represents the perfect solution. Not only will your organization become more competitive, but you will also be able to build on this success for the future with additional services.
There’s just one problem for business owners: where do you find a home care virtual assistant? Despite being located on the other side of the world, you don’t need to grab your passport to go and find the perfect home care virtual assistant. Instead, you can team up with a VA agency to provide you quick and easy access to all manner of assistants such as a home care virtual assistant or a healthcare virtual assistant.
With years of experience in the industry and an exclusive set of contacts, HelloRache are the definition of a successful VA agency. We can empower you to take your home care service to new heights, and with our virtual assistants available at just $9.50 an hour, we offer amazing value for money. To find out more, just click here to start a friendly chat with the HelloRache team.
