mileage issue/home health issues

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Hello to all HH Nurses, unappreciated, overworked and underpaid.

Tell me what you think about the mileage with the gas prices soaring. Let me me know about your routes and how you organize yourself in getting your visits completed. Do you work like I do, complete your visit, then chart afterwards? How do you manage to live normally, get pay less and work after hours whether on the phone or charting?:redbeathe

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I do not get mileage at all because I do shift work and going to my shift is considered the same as going to a regular job. My agencies also don't pay me to go from one case to another in the same day. They save money this way. I put up with it because as far as I'm concerned it is better than working in a facility.

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Specializes in LTC/hospital, home health (VNA).

I put in anywhere from 35-100 miles seeing between 4-7 patients a day...just really depends on the day. We use computer charting. I try to set up my visit before I head out for the day. I do some of the charting in the home --how much depends on the patient and the house itself (if you know what I mean). I then head home and finish up the charting. I usually am done charting between 330 and 5.

As far as the gas prices...yyeecchhh!. What's a girl to do? I try as much as possible to start as far out as I can then work my way back to home. Unfortunately not always possible. We have tried to separate our nurses into teams and each have a certain geographical area. It does help some. I guess even with those drawbacks of mileage and finishing up at home...I still feel that a bad day in HH for me -would be good day in a facility for most people.

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Specializes in Critical Care, Home Health.

Mileage is killing me! Most of my patients are far away and I don't get reimbursed for the trip to my first visit or from my last.

To make things worse we just got bought by another company and they reduced or mileage rate! :angryfire

I'm looking for a new job out of HH and the cost of gas is definitely one of the contributing factors. 25% of my income is going into my gas tank. :crying2:

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we are getting 0.41/mile, don't get me wrong i am happy we get something, but i don't understand why we can't be reimbursed the federal limit with is 0.50/mile now (i believe)....you won't get paid to your first patient that is true, but if your office is say 20 miles and your first patient is 25 miles, you do get the difference of the 5 miles, so don't forget to take that!!!!! every little bit helps, and always try to finish up closest to home,,,,what are we going to do????

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Thank you for replying to my post. It's too bad that as a home health nurse we don't get paid enough. The assessment time is nothing! It's the charting, mileage,time spent while driving answering calls from the office, tracking down doctors or medical assistants or a clinic nurse to give us the orders, and avoiding traffic and accidents. On top of these, how many eat or not eat at all. I munch on bird- like- food and have a late complete meal when I get home and I can't even make my bladder gladder. I used to scan in between visits for not necessarily nice toilets but clean at least but now with questions from my company for " gross mileage", I could not do it no more. Well, my argument on not getting mileage from home to first visit and last to home , is that.... we are not going to the office, we are not office employees, we don't even have an office for crying out loud. There's only so much planning you can do to have a perfect route, perfect day. Call your patients the night before and tell them no buts or ifs, that they are going to be seen at such and such time, plan your route, see them at least 5 min each, call the clinics and the office and let them handle the phone calls, chart as fast as you can by using prepared canned notes and hope and pray that you don't get in an accident.So what are we going to do ? I guess, start looking for another job and start all over, go back to hospital job,and go hungry and broke. But inspite of all these, you get appreciated by your patients and that counts, but it does not pay the bills.

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The pay for mileage pay is low (.41 per mile) with the agency I work for.

Talk that it would go up because the price of gas has increased, has just been talk.

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Specializes in Infusion Nursing, Home Health Infusion.

I work per diem for a home infusion company and gas prices are still killing me. Luckily I get paid to my first visit and any subsequent visits in that day. I do not get paid or do I get gas mileage if the ride home is less than 25 miles. The nurses were all complaining about mileage reimbursement and we went from .41 per mile to .47 per mile. This figure also should compensate for the use of your car and not just the price of gas so if you are breaking even or are in the red they are not paying you enough and all the nurses need to complain otherwise you know what happens ......YOU get labeled a complainer. In the meantime plan your routes the best you can and keep up maintenance and oil changes and try freeway or expressway routes.

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The highest mileage I've seen so far is $0.50/mile. In AZ they pay anywhere from $0.41-0.46. I traded my suv to a pt cruiser in Feb. Now I'm wondering if I should get bus routes, lol, or tell my patients to meet me in a community center so I can see them all in one location, That's still will qualify them since it's like doctor's appointment.

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Specializes in OR, ICU, Tele, Psych, LTC, Palliative.
I try as much as possible to start as far out as I can then work my way back to home. Unfortunately not always possible.

I've always tried to do the 'circle' route. :rollI start with a few nearer to me, then plan on driving out to the farther ones, working my way back. That way, you're paid mileage from a distance closer to you, including the trip out to the farthest appointment, and including the route home to finish up the ones nearer to you. You're still driving the same distance, but being paid for a majority of it. Your way has the psychological edge to it as you're always working your way home, :specs:but you're not being paid for that long trek out to the farthest client. JMHO

Best,

Sue

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I do not get mileage at all because I do shift work and going to my shift is considered the same as going to a regular job. My agencies also don't pay me to go from one case to another in the same day. They save money this way. I put up with it because as far as I'm concerned it is better than working in a facility.

That's a second job doing visits and 2nd employer. I do shifts too, ICU and floor sometimes. When you do shifts you don't continue charting at home, the work is done after 12 hours or eight, while with home visit, you start charting or continue charting until your done. If your patients have 3 visits your accumulate a paper trail. In my case, we carry a PDA and visits are sync before you go out, so if you did not close the previous visit you can't open the next one.They say it's 8-5, nope !

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I've always tried to do the 'circle' route. :rollI start with a few nearer to me, then plan on driving out to the farther ones, working my way back. That way, you're paid mileage from a distance closer to you, including the trip out to the farthest appointment, and including the route home to finish up the ones nearer to you. You're still driving the same distance, but being paid for a majority of it. Your way has the psychological edge to it as you're always working your way home, :specs:but you're not being paid for that long trek out to the farthest client. JMHO

Best,

Sue

Excellent idea. If I were doing visits, this is how I would try to arrange my work schedule.

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