How to Open a Home Health Agency

A home health agency provides convenient service and shelter for the elderly.

Due to the aging population of baby boomers, there is a growing demand for home healthcare services. Family members are looking for convenient places for their older senior family members to be taken care of. This means that there is more opportunity for you to open a home healthcare agency, not just to provide service to the elderly, but to make a business from it as well.

Things You'll Need

• Business license
• Health insurance
• Office location
• Licensed staff

Instructions

1. Obtain a license required to operate your agency. You can find out what kind of business licenses, policies and regulations you will need to start a home health agency by visiting business.gov and typing in "licenses." Go to "Get Business Licenses and Permits," and type in the city/state or zip code that pertains to the area where you want to open your agency. Choose "Home Health Care" for business type and press "Search." You will be directed to a page that will show you what kind of licenses and requirements you will need to have for opening a home health agency and how you can apply for them.

2. Acquire health insurance for your agency. You will need health insurance to cover any damages or injuries that may occur to any of the workers or elderly people living in your healthcare home. Without any insurance, your agency will be liable to accidents that may happen, resulting in hefty fees that can shut down your business. Contact your state health insurance agency for more information on how to apply for health insurance.

3. Find an office location for your agency. Start with a simple office where you can have a staff of about 10 employees. Your office space should include a waiting lounge for clients who want to question about your home health agency or are waiting to visit an elderly family member. There should also be a separate room for board discussion meetings. Seek a real estate adviser who can guide can you through the process of finding and leasing a space that provides these amenities.

4. Hire a licensed staff to work at your home health agency. It's important to hire employees who are properly trained and certified for providing health services for the elderly to ensure quality service and trust for your agency. This means when you interview people, you should ask whether they have had previous experience working at a home healthcare service of any type, if they have gone through any health courses or training or if they have received any type of health-related certificates or licenses that shows that they are qualified to work with elderly people. Select the ones who are most qualified for working in a home health agency.

5. Advertise your home health agency through different promotion strategies. Print out fliers with your contact information, Web site address and e-mail address along with any specials that your home health agency is offering and contact places like apartment rental offices, dental offices, doctor offices or any other health-related location to ask them if you can leave your fliers in their offices. Put advertisements in the classified ads of your local newspaper or contact a health topic magazine and ask them about their advertising fees. Create a home health agency Web site that is appealing, attractive and offers great quality service and leave your contact and agency information on the Web page. Participate in health-related forums and search for people who are interested in looking for home health agencies.

References

• Business.gov: Business Licenses and Permits