home health pay

renerian, BSN, RN · Feb 2, 2005

Amy it depends on the service area you have to drive, the complexity of the visits, if the patient needs OASIS done or not etc. If the service area is to big you spend hours in your car you are not paid for.

What is the service area you are required to cover?

renerian

Renashia · Feb 7, 2005

I interveiwed with a hh agency today and was curious what the going pay scale is. They pay 60 for admission, 38.5 re-admits, and 28 for nursing visits. I currently work in the hospital and have an hourly rate so I was trying to do the math; as far as my paycheck went. Also .33 for mileage.. Just trying to figure out what the adverage salary range is....

I work in home health under salary. Our serivce area covers 3 counties and I can put approx 30-100 miles a day on my vehicle. We are usually given the equivalent of 5-6 visits a day (resumtion of care and start of care is considered 2 visits, driving over 60 miles is also considered a visit). I am paided approx 21.00/hr, but I am a relativly new nurse. Another salary HH agency near us starts their nurses at 23.75/hr. Truthfully though I rarly am done with a 5-6 patient day in 8 hrs, it is usually 9-10 depending on my drive time. Hope that helps a little.

Traveler · Feb 7, 2005

Amylou-

The visit rates sound about right for the area that you are located in. You also need to find out what the rate is for inservices, meetings, etc. and what your productivity is required to be. Each agency is different in this regard. For example, where I work full time is 25 points a week: regular visit, sub visit= 0.75, each hour of meeting= 0.5, admission= 2 points, ROC,Recert,Post hosp, D/C= 1.25 points. It also matters how far you have to drive. Where I am now, my average miles for visits per day is 30-60. Where I worked before it was over 100. It makes a big difference. Remember that you can't really measure how well you are doing financially until you have been there about 6 months and get used to and efficient with all of the paperwork.

Good luck!

Ann

amylou85 · Feb 8, 2005

Thanks alot for the info. I currently work full time at a rehab hospital and feel like I need a change. Plus running up and down the halls is killing my feet and legs. I make right at 23.00 per hr now and did want to take a huge cut in pay. From others I have talked to it, the pay per visits is about right. They pay 20.00 for inservice and education also, they do have a 3,000 sign on bonus with a commitment of a year. I really think I would love the flexiblity and freeing up some of my weekends and I will probaly contiue to work prn at the hospital.. Change is sometimes scarey but I think the time has comes. thanks :balloons:

renerian, BSN, RN · Mar 5, 2005

Did you make the switch to home health?

renerian

Christine Bonnet · Jan 6, 2006

Need answers quick... I am trying to make a decision. I have previously worked in the hospital (on hourly pay 21.00/hr + diff) and averaged about 55,000-60,000 per year. I am sooooo tired of working in the hospital and started interviewing for home health positions. I have since quit my hospital position so I need a job fairly soon. Just yesterday I was offered a position at a very reputable agency. I have been impressed by everything they had to offer until they threw me for a loop and told me I would be paid hourly (about the same $21 per hour) and working 40 hour weeks. The only way I made so much in the hospital was by doing almost every weekend and overtime. I was trying to get away from that and was under the impression that HH nurses could make more in less time being paid per visit. They want an answer by Monday and my husband seems to think that they are trying to get over on me because I am new to HH and fairly new to nursing. We can not afford a decrease in my pay, is it a wise decision to accept a position being paid hourly @ 21.00/hr to do home health or should I ask to be paid per visit which is something I brought up when I accepted the job but the owner of the company kind of avoided? :uhoh3:

AnnemRN · Jan 7, 2006

Personally, I would choose the hourly rate over the per visit rate. An open can take you several hours between the paperwork and visit time. At $60 you might end up making only $15 - $ 20 per hour. I've been in home health for 14 years and I would not take the per visit rate.

Christine Bonnet · Jan 7, 2006

Thanks for the reply I am really stressed right now about making the right decision because when I make this change I want it to be something I stick with for a while. I love the company and the other employees already but I am terrified that I won't be able to pay my bills (and ultimately that is why we work right?) The change in pay for me will be about $10,000 less. Are you sure that it's better to be paid by the hour? They expect me to do at least 6 visits per day (that has already been agreed on). In a forty hour week at the hourly rate it works out to $840. Being paid per visit other agencies have offered me $60/admits, $45/resumption of care, $35/routine visit. Even if only figuring the lowest ($35) 6 routine visits daily would work out to $1050 per week that's a big difference. The other thing is that the agency functions in a very tight area. The driving time between each client only minutes apart (5-10 at the most). Don't you think after taking this into consideration per visit pay would be better for me?

cherricka · Jan 7, 2006

I work per hour. I would not do per visit, because I take too long, and don't want to have to rush. One of the reasons I stopped working at the hospital, was so I can teach patients how to care for themselves better, and that takes time.

I work in Northeast New York.

Hourly rates-$20/hr-$27.00/hr

Time and a half for Saturday and Sunday, even if part time.

Double pay for working on a holiday, with Holiday time off also.

48.5 / mile

On call-$2.50/hr-Min. 2 hour pay if you go on a call, even if your there 15 minutes.

Per diem rates

No mileage

Visit-weekday-$29, weekend-$34

Admit-$76

IV visit-$42

Pt not home- $11

Case management or Recert-$36

Hope this is helpful,

Cherricka

suzanne4, RN · Jan 7, 2006

Your six visits could in essence take you 12 hours to get done, or even more. You do not get paid for the travel time, and your visit can last greater than 60 minutes.

Remember that many home health visits are paid by Medicare and they have tight restrictions on the pay per visit that is authorized. It is not something alone that the agency is deciding on.

AnnemRN · Jan 8, 2006

It takes awhile to get the hang of home health. You will not be able to handle six patients a day for awhile.Patients that I see now are much sicker than when I first started in home health and the visits are longer. There is alot more followup ie; calling MD, writing up communication notes,supp orders etc. If you take per visit depending on the situation you could be spending many hours of your own time wrapping things up.If you were hourly you could ask for overtime ( they may not like it but, oh well..) with per visit you're just eating your time.It may help alot that your travel time is short but that doesn't guarantee a manageable day. In home health many unexpected delays can happen--example:you need to teach suctioning/trach care to a patient but the trach supplies haven't arrived.You have to call the DME and then make a decision, maybe go to your next patient's house and come back. The supplies may arrive in that time but maybe not(hopefully you don't have a problem at the next house too) If you're paid per visit-you will be really stressed (even more than an hourly nurse) You become a clock watcher and that's not good. :uhoh3: