Hourly pd RNs:How does your HH agency work mileage into productivity?

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Specializes in hospital, pain management, home health.

This question is for the RN case managers that are paid by hour vs. per visit. How does your home health agency work in mileage with productivity?

The company I was working for said, "30 miles equals about one hour of time or one point". In the beginning it was my understanding that time spent on the road was worked into the productivity time. At the end of my time at Amedisys, I was traveling about 300-350 miles per week with a productivity time of 23. This is less than what they desired (25-30). After about 4-5 months, my clinical director flatout told me that mileage is not taken into account. :eek: So I was expected to do 5-6 points a day with at least 2 hours of driving, 30-2hours of case management(depending on the day), and paperwork catchup. I was working about 60-70 hours a week towards the end.

What is the expectation at your job regarding miles and points? Thank you for your time!

Shonda RN

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for us mileage does not come into play with points,,,,6 unit a day (maybe if it is a good day) doesn't matter if you drive 20 miles or 100 miles,,,units are units for us

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Specializes in Home Health.

I have never heard of any home health agency taking into account the mileage or time driving as part of productivity. It is the number of patients seen and that is all! If you spend 3 hours on a complicated admit, i.e., peg, foley, woundvac, central line, etc, etc you are paid for 1 admit, and if you drove 1 hour to get there it doesn't matter. But, if you are paid hourly, your driving time is compensated, so that should cover you.

Like my late son said, the agency doesn't know you are not a crow! (10 miles as the crow flies), lol. He was right.

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There should be a federal regulation: Any HHC agency not giving productivity points for driving over 15 miles between visits, lab drops, or supply and paperwork drop/pick up or to the office for meetings should be fined and/or closed.

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for us mileage does not come into play with points,,,,6 unit a day (maybe if it is a good day) doesn't matter if you drive 20 miles or 100 miles,,,units are units for us

How do you do it? This sounds like terrible working conditions!

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Specializes in Home Health.
There should be a federal regulation: Any HHC agency not giving productivity points for driving over 15 miles between visits, lab drops, or supply and paperwork drop/pick up or to the office for meetings should be fined and/or closed.

As long as agencies are for profit, which they certainly are, it won't happen. And, the boards of labor really don't want to get involved because home health agencies 'do things different', I know, I called. Nurses need to unionize.

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i can tell you this,,,i would rather drive my country roads than spend hrs in stop and go traffic,,so i think it all equals out in the end........i have patients that are 30+ miles apart it is just the nature of the game...if you don't like it, try and find greener grass.

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Specializes in hospital, pain management, home health.
There should be a federal regulation: Any HHC agency not giving productivity points for driving over 15 miles between visits, lab drops, or supply and paperwork drop/pick up or to the office for meetings should be fined and/or closed.

I agree with you on this one!:up:

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Specializes in hospital, pain management, home health.
As long as agencies are for profit, which they certainly are, it won't happen. And, the boards of labor really don't want to get involved because home health agencies 'do things different', I know, I called. Nurses need to unionize.

Isabelle-

Home health agencies are not open to unions, but the Amedisys I work for is part of the Oregon Nurses Association. They took over an agency that was unionized. And thank God or it would be worse! Unfortunately nurses leave so quickly there, they are not interested in investing the time to try to change things. I'm the one that has been out in the boonies the longest - 8 months. There was no caseload for me; I had to build up one.

The Amedisys in Portland 3905 is walking a fine line with the union here. They tried to withhold my last pay check. :confused: They told me I need to do some missed visits. I told them I don't know these people, and I don't work for them anymore. I was in shock! :eek: Luckily my husband was there and told me I need to have them write down on a piece of paper why they will not give you your paycheck and have them sign it. As soon as he said that, the table turned and I got my check. The office manager said someone else will do the missed visits. I got my check and ran as fast as I could out the door!

Thanks for all the responses!:D

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Specializes in hospital, pain management, home health.
How do you do it? This sounds like terrible working conditions!

Erroridiot:

I consider myself a very hard worker. I was able to work here for 8 months; I had been looking for work for the last month. Something happened that broke the camel's back. There was such a buildup of crap I was experiencing that I actually quit. That is totally not my nature! It was such a hostile environment, and they kept on threatening to fire me. The list goes on and on.

I walked into a trap and now I am FREE! It's great!

Shonda:nurse:

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Specializes in hospital, pain management, home health.
i can tell you this,,,i would rather drive my country roads than spend hrs in stop and go traffic,,so i think it all equals out in the end........i have patients that are 30+ miles apart it is just the nature of the game...if you don't like it, try and find greener grass.

berube-

I do love home health case management! I loved the area I worked in; I got to see Mt.Hood almost everyday. The area is breathtaking. I found my niche in nursing, but now I'm on to search for a better company. I know they exist; our union rep has given me a few suggestions.

Shonda:nurse:

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Specializes in ER, L&D, ICU, LTC, HH.

I do not get productivity time for driving. The labor boards need to totally look into home health labor practices. They remind me of a third world country. I took my actual time I worked last week and divided it by what I made and it was $11.00 an hour. I am still working on this with letters and such to the state labor board.

~Willow

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