Homecare Homebase Erfahrungen

Having used a handful of different software programs in the healthcare field I found using this particular one taught me to appreciate the others in a big way.

This software is marketed as a “workflow” driven program that is supposed to seamlessly keep users on top of tasks to insure the ball keeps rolling without interruption. The workflow is from referral stage (accepted or not), to insurance verification (which should be done first), to scheduling start of care visit and so on. Each step has several “workflow” sections that need to be cleared. These workflow items can only be cleared from the “workflow” section of the software. In other words, it cannot be cleared simply by doing the task from other sections of the software or the patients chart.
Insurance authorizations are tricky. A SOC visit cannot be scheduled without an authorization being entered, even for Medicare payors which do not require an auth. Authorizations require a "bypass" to be entered first which is only a partial auth allowing a scheduler to only plot a few visits, explained to employees that it forces auths be requested and followed up on so that the remaining visits can be scheduled. However this wasn't the case, as a turnover in employees occurred repeatedly, orders weren’t being approved in a timely manner so new employees were told to add to these bypasses to be able to schedule further visits. If bypass extensions weren’t entered, visits were not scheduled in a timely manner and ordered frequency was not honored and in the end MANY missed visits had to be entered, which happened frequently. Auth requests fell behind as well because orders hadn’t been approved and not all Ins companies allow back dating of auth requests which costed this company dearly. Also the auth workflow has many sections, Enter initial auth bypass, Request initial auth, Follow up on auth request, Enter auth upon approval, all for each patient and each auth..so much reworking on the same subject, a huge time waster and messy. Each workflow item requires coordination note to be entered (more to weed through when searching notes).
To explain untimely verbal order approval, they understandably need to be approved as do many other things, usually by the Director of Nursing. As the DON rules many facets of this kind of business, her “workflow” is overwhelming, as is every assigned workflow item with this program, hence the turnover. Every employee has an overwhelming workflow that drives them to seek other employment. I saw 3 DON’s come and go in the few short months I was with this company. This in my opinion is what causes a ripple effect. If only one user in this “workflow” process cannot keep up it will and does cause every step thereafter to be off because the task does not move to the next step until the one before is complete.
A couple of other things outside the workflow that cause issues: There is no visit management for looking into if visits were completed or not in the patient chart. Users have to exit the chart to go to the scheduling console that is many clicks and searches to get to. Actual visit notes are found in coordination notes that are mixed with all certification periods for that patient and there is no indication of what kind of visit it is, a follow up or oasis etc. This information is only available in the scheduler. All documents that are scanned into a patients chart are mixed as well with all cert periods so in turn users spend too much time weeding out, another big time waster. Also only one user can be in a patient chart at a time, very odd.

They have been great to add programs to the software so that we can keep everything in house. We have multiple lines of business and in that respect they are very accommodating. We have been with them for years so most of our staff is familiar with the software and how it operates.

It can become super costly. They charge enormous amounts for each add-on you purchase. Also, customer service has always and still is very slow to respond at times. There are times we will wait 2-3 days for a response to what seems like a simple fix. Also not fond of a lot of the updates they do (which is often) They seem to change the look and feel of the site far too much.

Can sync quickly. That's it.
Being able to use small device is kinda of nice .

From field staff point of view hchb is very poor program. Pathways do not reflect care provided. Waiting around for office staff to change codes, add visits, process work que is extremely slow. Buddy codes are a mess for large organization. We end up with visits on one nurse and buddy codes on another. Makes no sense that buddy codes can be moved separate from a visit.There are repetitive questions in some areas of assessment that are not needed nor appropriate. I spend more time "looking" at my phone during a visit than I do the patient. No ability to self schedule my case load.Writing exceptions all the time as to why i wasn't in home 30 minutes, when I actually was is annoying now. The system we have on scanning documents that MD have written by hand is not legible half the time so make figuring orders a concern. I'd rather go back to epic.

Homecare Homebase is not the most friendly EMR software I have used while providing home based hospice care. It does try to make things easier, such as providing prepopulated responses you can choose from, tracking your miles from patient to patient and good IDG tools.

Homecare Homebase could streamline things, espeically for social workers and chaplains as they are extremely nurse focused. Documenting a new patient visit can take a lot of time, especially going through all of the new patient flows.

It is quite simple and easy to use for Home Health agencies and Hospices. I approve orders in it and it takes me literally 3 clicks and steps. It took me very little time to learn how to use it. I have heard others have had the same experience. I would imaging training costs are low. Tracking referrals is very easy.

It does not interface with Epic well which is unfortunate. Epic is the most commonly used software by hospitals and large health system. It is not convenient for nurses who have to chart in both softwares. I wish this software would alert me when orders come to my in-basket to sign. I have to remember to log in every week. Unlike other software such as Epic, they do not have a phone app. Epic app alerts you when you have a message. To compete, HH should create an app, too.
At times too many questions have to be answered and repeating information has to be typed in by hand, which wastes time and takes away from time spent with the patient.

HCHB has a multitude of integrations for supporting our nurses including integrations with patient data, physician office integration, payroll, and others. The scanning features have drastically reduced the administrative hours nurses spend allowing them more quality time with patients.

HCHB is growing fast and has some of the biggest home health and hospice agencies. Sometimes they seem over stretched, but it usually happens in phases. They are constantly getting better and more reliable with compliance needs.

Great all in one software for a growing hospice company. Without this I don't know how we could function as a company, this is great!

They roll out quite a few updates the system can go down from time to time but if you can be patient and plan for it you'll be fine.

I like that the software keeps track of when to send letters and the one to make phone calls

What using the calendar function to plot phone calls it would be nice if the calendar showed national and religious holidays to prevent scheduling on those days.

Some realtime info is available however admissions and recertifications not available as realtime until fully reviewed by coders
Demographics info available immediately
The pros for office staff and billing purposes are readily apparent and this is the major advantage

This little device sorry,rephrase, this miniature device is totally inadequate to be working with all day and all night
Mark my words, you will be working on this little monster for the entire day &night whenever you see patients. It is slowwww, tedious to use due to miniature size and it is laborious as you need to address hundreds of screens to move through this program. It is difficult to retrieve information as it requires backtracking again through screen after screen. The type is extremely small and difficult to use continually all day & night and this is with largest type available. It has made my job easily 12 hrs a day and since I'm salaried no overtime. Basically, my job is nurse during day and data entry every single night . There is lag time with every entry and with every screen change causing delay in my data entry job. Trust me, the nursing staff will be very unhappy with this program. Mgt not sympathetic as they shrug and say "That's the way it is".

Nothing.totally inappropriate fo. TIME consuming. So much repetition for so little information. Set up for intermittant visits. Too much back office requirement that impedes flow of information. Does not interact with hospice pharmacy so all meds have to put in twice. Calls for answers to questions before you can move on where there is no appropriate answer available

Soc is too time consuming. Hard to retrieve information that is useable for continued pt care.too complicated but not flexible. This has been a nightmare to use.

Amazing ability to look up patients, and map your day. I miss this feature the most when working with my new software. Looking up patients at a touch of a button and not searching really made my evenings and mornings trying to plan for my day and caseload very easy.

Did not have a lot of ability to choose what you needed in certain sections. Sometimes would have to click an answer that didn't really fit, and then would later have to type a narrative to explain