The rise in gas prices is causing a strain on Home Care workers who rely on transportation to provide care to their clients daily, even multiple times a day. With the cost of gas unlikely to come down soon, it will significantly impact field staff, affecting scheduling shifts and limiting some services your clients receive. Here are five ways to manage gas inflation and stay profitable while keeping your staff and clients happy.
1. Route Planning
To help save on fuel costs, you can set a smaller radius for your caregiver’s service areas or seek alternative routes to save time and money on mileage. MEDsys offers a Route Planning tool to help you find the fastest itinerary including multiple stops. MEDsys Advanced Search tool, which helps match the right caregivers to your clients, includes looking up the best match based on proximity.
2. Mileage Reimbursement
To cover transportation costs, you may want to reimburse your staff or adjust their current rate if you do so already. If you wish to pay a cents-per-mile or a flat rate, you can set this up quickly with MEDsys.
3. Surcharges
Increasing the rates of the services is an option but may leave your clients unhappy. Instead, you can add a small surcharge to your services for mileage. If your Caregiver uses their vehicle to run errands or transport the Client, you can set up specific task rates and charge higher rates for services that require transportation. MEDsys allows you to set up custom rates based on your chosen structure.
4. Switch to Weekly Payroll
If you can’t afford to increase wages, you may want to consider switching from Bi-Weekly to Weekly Payroll. Paying staff weekly may alleviate financial burdens and improve morale. MEDsys helps automate your payroll process by collecting data from confirmed schedules and instantly creates an export for your payroll vendor.
5. Manage Your Agency from Home
Utilizing a software solution that is cloud-based allows you to work from anywhere without needing to visit the office. If you and your office staff have an at-home office space, selecting a software that allows everyone to use the same system remotely can prevent productivity loss and save on travel expenses. MEDsys is an all-in-one management software for your whole team. From Lead Tracking to Billing and Payroll, MEDsys allows you to connect with your everyday tools and automate your entire workflow from anywhere on any device.
MEDsys was founded by Home Care industry professionals and we believe software is not a one size fits all. Large or Small, our customizable solution meet the needs of your agency today and grow with you as your business expands. If you want to learn more about affordable, customized solutions, get started here.