Training can be a major differentiating factor to achieve greater retention among home-based care providers, particularly in the current staffing environment where even the smallest competitive advantage makes a difference.

And while providers know there’s value in training, assigning a return on investment can be more challenging. To prove the worth of their training programs, providers often turn to “soft” ROI metrics to align value versus hard and fast returns. Online caregiver training is increasing agency efficiency across home-based care providers, making a substantial bottom-line impact by driving recruiting, onboarding, retention and care outcomes.

Caregiver Motivation

CareAcademy, an online caregiver training platform for agencies, has always maintained an employee-centric approach to program development. The platform, which offers home care-specific online training and educational resources, is redefining caregiver education by maximizing the capacity of both the individual direct care worker and the industry as a whole, which is more important today than ever before.

In health care, the conversation around education is typically compliance-focused. But CareAcademy projects that education could be a key leverage point in recruiting, retention and market positioning in today’s home care environment. That outlook manifests in new initiatives and opportunities for direct care workers based on the idea that if a provider increases the capacity of the caregiver, they increase the opportunities across home care and health care at large.

“This is not just education for the sake of compliance, it is education that opens the aperture in terms of direct care worker engagement and motivation,” says Helen Adeosun, founder and CEO of CareAcademy. “We are helping fulfill the needs of the industry around recruiting, onboarding and retention, which directly impact the bottom line.”

Continuing Education

Continuing education also lends itself to the caregiver-centric training model because it supports the long-term success of every care worker who takes the time to obtain additional credentials and care certifications. A comprehensive curriculum can be designed to keep caregivers at the top of their game as the industry evolves — over time. The constant regulatory changes in home care demand consistency from education partners, and from a compliance standpoint, the bottom-line impact is direct.

In addition to recognizing providers’ market and regulation-based education needs, CareAcademy also recognizes the need for on-demand education. By offering a robust, continuously growing training video library at caregivers’ fingertips, care provider teams can access condition-specific content in the moment, potentially reducing the number of adverse health events and eliminating the need for additional assistance — a significant cost savings from both a clinical and operations perspective.

“Our health care system is undergoing a massive evolution in care delivery, so CareAcademy is not just looking at what exists and how to make it better, but also at what the evolution will look like in the future so we can adapt our platform as needed,” said Erika Sessions, director of compliance and policy development at CareAcademy. “To deliver a firm ROI, we are focused on designing modular training solutions to make sure everybody gets what they need when they need it.”

In addition to helping caregivers in the here-and-now, CareAcademy’s training resources also help them thrive in the long-term. This is a win-win for home care providers like Best of Care, whose President and CEO Kevin Smith champions upskilling and professional development as part of its company culture.

“It comes as no surprise that the people we retain are the people who have taken the opportunities to achieve a new certificate or unlock a new credential,” Smith says. “Those team members have more permanent work available to them, and those are the people making a career in home care.”

Scalability

Platform scalability is an important component of any home care technology, but when it comes to online caregiver training and education, it largely drives ROI. As providers shift their focus away from pandemic recovery toward a new phase of growth, it is critical to have a training platform that can grow with the organization at the rate it needs.

Scalability ties directly back to efficiency, and mobile compatibility has been a key efficiency angle in CareAcademy’s platform development since day one. Especially in franchise and multi-location models, the ability to standardize training and monitor activity across multiple networks drastically increases efficiency and makes implementation a much simpler process for leadership.

“Across the industry, everyone is focused on bringing in new direct care workers right now,” said Helen Adeosun. “At scale, technology appreciates the difference in magnitude. The ability to provide a mobile-friendly platform to prospects is extremely valuable.”

This article is sponsored by CareAcademy. Online caregiver training technology increases efficiency and optimizes the existing workforce so providers can focus on growth. To learn more about the bottom-line impact of CareAcademy’s platform, visit www.careacademy.com.