DETERMINING COST DRIVERS FOR PEDIATRIC HOME HEALTH-SERVICES

A variety of cost constraints threaten the financial viability of home health agencies. Thus, tools must be developed that expand the critic al information resources that will be the key ingredient in successful ly navigating the challenges in the volatile home health market. Ident ifying and analyzing the core processes with the pediatric home care t eam provided a template that could be used with other agency patient p opulations by producing cost trajectories based on anticipated care re quirements and capturing information that could be used for both inter nal and external benchmarking. The cost drivers of key processes and a ctivities must be known so that they can be controlled and appropriate rates for capitation contracts can be established. Activity-based man agement uses cost driver analysis, activity analysis and performance a nalysis, to determine strategies for redirecting the work processes an d agency activities to achieve lasting cost reductions.