In honor of Valentine's Day, we thought we would pay tribute by letting our readers know what there is to love about a computer system.  Now we know that to most of you, loving a computer system seems silly.  I mean, you're whole career has been based on the love you have for the people you serve.  Now that's real love - so this is more of a 'really like'.  We also know that for most of you, computers and technology is just not your thing.  But like the kid at the school Valentine's dance that's in the corner, computer systems for this industry might be cooler than you think.  Maybe you should go over and introduce yourself, who knows it could be a match made in heaven!  A computer system can't give you a hug or tell you they love you or make you laugh.  But what if we looked at a computer system like an Agency Management Platform and tried to give the things it does a more human-like feel.  So bear with us, as we try to make a case for the 4 Reasons you should LOVE (or at least really like) a computer system for provider agencies.

For provider agencies that are funded through Medicaid waivers, utilization management is a key to success.  Unfortunately, Medicaid in this country has turned into a political battleground.  Federal and state governments are always looking at Medicaid when it comes time to approach budget cuts and different models have been proposed or implemented, most commonly a managed care model, to try and save Medicaid dollars.  So for some of you, direct state Medicaid reimbursement is a thing of the past.  But for others, it is still your primary source of funding and your lifeblood.  And with the constant threat of Medicaid funding getting pulled or cut, utilizing and maximing the funding that you currently have is crucial.  Below are grades for two methods of utilization management, which method do you fall under?

Probably one of the hardest tasks for any provider agency is managing your employees' schedules and the process of allocating resources to appointments and what to do when the appointed resource can't make their shift.  Whiteboard schedules like the one above are a common way to manage the in and out of employees to give schedulers a "big picture" on what's happening.  Being unorganized in this area of your business is extremely detrimental to the success of your agency.  Do you know how many missed appointments your agency averages a month?  Do you know the most common reason why appointments are missed?  Do you have a process in place to re-allocate a qualified employee to cover a missed shift?  What is the damage to the brand of your agency when you don't show up when you are supposed to?  This area of service is so important to your agency that even if you have mastered the art of whiteboard scheduling, looking at more efficient ways to control your schedule and get real analytics from it will make you a better agency.  Here are 5 reasons why investing in a scheduling software solution will make you a better agency.