Question for Case Managers who travel to client/patients homes

[Peachpit]

For CM's who see patients in their homes weekly/biweekly or monthly, how far do you travel in an average day?

I've been offered a position that requires patients to be seen once weekly/biweekly or monthly as determined by their needs with recert visits every 6 months. Patients are staffed in home with a private duty RN, LPN and/or Aide. The CM position oversees the care, ensures Care Plan is being followed, etc. meet w/the in home staff as well as the patient to make sure all is going OK, if changes are needed etc. The case load is 12 with no more than 14 assigned at a time to any CM. Schedule is flexible, mileage and time are paid from the time I leave my home until I return.  The request is 3 patients are seen a day but no more than 4. I would need to be available by phone to any of the in home staff that may have an issue or question and same for the patient after hours/weekends. If I do take a call it is paid time.

The only caveat is the coverage area - because the patients are spread out over various counties, the travel time to some patients may be 2 hours one way. I'm told by the recruiter and the Director of Nursing this is the normal requirement for CM terriority - the two hour coverage area - and other CM's group patients by zipcode to decrease travel time.

The company has good reviews, many employees have been with them for years or decades. It would be a nice change as I would like to get away from direct patient care just not sure about the daily travel as some of it would be through larger cities.

[beachynurse, ASN, BSN]

I'm surprised that they are paying from your home and back. When I was doing Home Care, we could not be paid from home to our first visit or to the office, whichever we did first and then from patient to patient until we had seen our last patient of the day. Once we had seen the last patient, we could go to the office and claim mileage there, but if we were going home after our last visit, or if the office was the last visit of the day we could not claim mileage. The government considers those trips to be going to and from work, which is not claimable.

[Peachpit]

This isn't a  traditional home health RN Case Management position - it's a CM position for patients receiving private duty care.

If there is a difference in what the company pays for mileage and the government allowance if the company pays less than the government allows you can deduct the difference. Many do that in jobs, like home health, that mileage is a business expense. I've been paid mileage from home and back home when I did on call for hospice - I was paid from the time I left my home and for mileage until I returned home so it can be done.